"Hey, Jack," Peacock said, walking alongside Jack as the two of them traversed into Halloween Town. "Why are you so interested in holidays anyway?"

"Ah, well, Halloween is my area of expertise. It's just when you've been doing this for centuries... I don't know. I don't wish to admit that I'm running out of material, but..." Jack sighed. "Well, what I wouldn't give for a change of pace. The introduction of the church made Halloween so much less fun."

"Bah, I know a thing or two about churches ruinin' everything," Peacock said.

"Well, let's not dwell on that, shall we?" Jack said, abruptly turning Peacock down a street corner, and into the plaza. "Here, I'll show you a trick."

Jack led Peacock up to a glum, crooked house leaning over the curb, its clapboards rotting and its lights flickering. Jack slinked up to the door and gave it a swift knock.

The door creaked open, and a demon with the top half of his head detached from his jaw, like a harlequin's hat, opened the door.

"Trick-or-treat, my friend!" Jack said.

"Jack, didn't we just close out our Halloween celebration? the harlequin demon asked.

"Yes, we did, but it's never too early to practice for the next year, is it?" Jack replied. "Now give this little girl some candy, will you?"

The demon complied, reaching into a bucket and placing a candy bar into Jack's skeletal palm. "Well, technically it's still Halloween, so... happy Halloween!" the demon said, before shutting the door.

"I beg your pardon!" Jack scoffed. "We are miles past sketchy, let alone seedy! Perish the thought." He waved his hand. "But that is bona fide chocolate you've got in your hands there. You are new here, so perhaps you don't know this, but nobody's actually out to get you. They all just love a good scare! And so..."

Jack waved his arms around. "...you have this town!"

Jack was walking backwards, leading Peacock through the town, when he stumbled on a large mound of sapient clay. "Whoops!" Jack yelped, tipping over, then recovering, landing swiftly on his feet. "Better watch your step. I'll talk to the mayor about these flagstones later."

"I'm nots a flag or a stone..."Clement muttered, the shoe indent's on their form fading out,"Im a Clement". Clement muttered ,downtrodden(both literally and emotionally in this case)

"Did you say something, Peacock?" Jack asked.

"Nah, but you stepped on a guy," Peacock replied, pointing down at Clement.

"Uh... red guy? More blue balls than a 12 year old boy in a brothel?" Peacock asked. "Doesn't like to move much?"

"Yes, he is very the 'lazies'!" Clement spouted

"I mean, sure, I know 'im, but I haven't seen the fella in a while," Peacock replied, tapping her chin.

"Oh...ok, I'm Clement, I'm made of clays like him, but they say I have more 'an-r-gies'" They explained, holding out their left helmet flap like a hand.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that, Clem. Hey, I'm not sure we met. The name's Peacock. This is Jack the Skellyman."

"Er, 'Skellington,'" Jack corrected.

Peacock shook Clement's appendage, and Jack leaned down and did the same.

"In any case, Clemmy, maybe if we stick together, we'll track down that palooka what gave our pals the axe," Peacock said.

It was clear Clement didn't comprehend most of what the girl was saying, but dangnabbit if it didin't sound fun, "YES, THE AXE!"They agreed.

"I'm gonna take that as a 'let's do it.' So... first of all," Peacock said, turning to Jack, "thanks for the tour, but Clem and I gotta go smash a glorified lightbulb or whatever was shootin' rays at us. We'll just be here."

"Ah, alright. You two take care now. And stay out of trouble."

"Can't make any promises, Jack-o."

======

Jack traveled to the outskirts of Halloween Town, meandering through the graveyard, looking up at the full moon. As he pushed the gates of the graveyard open, there was a rustling of grass. Jack, however, seemed to pay it no mind--all the better for Sally, who had been in the graveyard hiding from Finkelstein beforehand. An encounter would have been awkward, to say the least.

He sighed.

"Those two... Perhaps that was the most excitement this town has had in a while. Every year, it's same old Halloween again, and again..."

Jack sat upon a tombstone, and leaned on his spindly skeleton arms.

"And who'd have thought, I, the Pumpkin King, the lord of all screams, terrors, and frights... would grow so, terribly, terribly... jaded?" Jack lamented, ranting to no one in particular. He gazed up towards the moon again. "You'd understand, wouldn't you? Every phase you make is the same. Like clockwork."

Jack got up, and began to walk towards the forest, lost in his thoughts. Passing by the grave of his dog, Zero, he rapped the top of the roof, and the ghostly canine emerged from his abode, following Jack. Jack leaned down and patted Zero on the head, before stopping by a marble crypt, and leaning on its surface. He took a deep, melancholy breath.

"There are few who'd deny, at what I do I am the bestFor my talents are renowned far and wideWhen it comes to surprises in the moonlit night

"I excel without ever even tryingWith the slightest little effort of my ghostlike charmsI have seen grown men give out a shriekWith the wave of my hand, and a well-placed moanI have swept the very bravest off their feet

"Yet year after year, it's the same routineAnd I grow so weary of the sound of screamsAnd I, Jack, the Pumpkin KingHave grown so tired of the same old thing

"Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bonesAn emptiness began to growThere's something out there, far from my homeA longing that I've never known

"I'm the master of fright, and a demon of lightAnd I'll scare you right out of your pantsTo a guy in Kentucky, I'm Mister UnluckyAnd I'm known throughout England and France

"And since I am dead, I can take off my headTo recite Shakespearean quotationsNo animal nor man can scream like I canWith the fury of my recitations

"But who here would ever understandThat the Pumpkin King with the skeleton grinWould tire of his crown, if they only understoodHe'd give it all up if he only could

"Oh, there's an empty place in my bonesThat calls out for something unknownThe fame and praise come year after yearDoes nothing for these empty tears..."

Sally watched Jack bemoan his emptiness from behind a headstone. Silhouetted by the moonlight, the skeleton's sadness was clear to the ragdoll.

"Jack..." Sally whispered. "I know how you feel."

As Sally leaned down to grab various worts and herbs, Jack disappeared into the woods.

Slapstick was at best a downed clown, a clown who was down, dragging the Warhammer of Zillyhoo, behind him as it kicked up and bumped against the uneven terrain, semi slumped, his tufts of hair looking like distressed strands of cotton flapping in the breeze, "I wonder how far it went,me being the last would be a cruel joke, what would the punchline be....life is rhymes with funfairs?"He meloncholily muttered.

As Slapstick dejectedly trudged through the woods, Jack meandered between the trees, his ghostly dog lapping at his heels.

"Woof!" Zero barked.

"No, Zero... Not now. I'm not in the mood," Jack mumbled.

"Bark!" Zero insisted, hovering around Jack, before licking his face. Zero, however, stopped, sniffed the air, and turned towards the darkness. "Bark! Bark!"

Jack reached under his shirt and wriggled one of his ribs from off his rib cage. "All right, all right. Just once, Zero," Jack conceded, smiling slightly. "Come on, boy. Come on." Jack wiggled the rib towards Zero. He narrowed his skeletal orbitals, before deciding to just throw the rib in the direction that Zero was looking.

Slapstick registered something flying towards him a second before it struck him in the forehead, with a sound like a rock reverbing out of a coconut he was hit.

"Alright, who has a bone to pick with me?!"He muttered picking up the rib with his free hand.

The toon spied Jack and made his was over to him, before climbing up a tree and hanging upside-down from the branch so he was eye-er socket level with the skeleton.

"I'm guessing this belongs to you, bleached bonehead?"He offered the rib in this trying time.

"Oh, goodness. I didn't see you there," Jack said. "So sorry. I assure you, I do not in fact have a bone to pick with you. But thank you for picking up my bone."

Zero circled around Slapstick and whined, jumping up towards the bone.

The dog latched onto it and pulled Slapstick from the branch and the toon fell with a series of cracking sounds.

"Must really need to eat more if a ghost is pulling me down". The toon asided.

Zero deposited the bone into Jack's hand. "Just once more. The first didn't count," Jack said, wiggling the rib in front of Zero.

"Bark! Bark!"

Jack hurled the bone into the darkness again, listening for any other unceremonious "THUNK" noises. Thankfully, there were none. "Go get it, boy!" Jack urged.

"BARK!"

And Zero was off.

"Now, you seem a little down yourself. What's a creepy clown like you doing so far away from Halloween Town?" Jack asked, bending down towards the fallen Slapstick.

Slapstick cracked his limbs back into place,"My friends got lightspeeded, I only got away because I ran, suppose I'm alive yeah....but everyone's gone,I don't know where or why all I know is I wasn't strong enough to stop it..."Slapstick flopped on his back staring up at the near pitch black sky.

"I see... I met a couple of people who shared similar stories with me. A blue-and-yellow glob of clay whose accent was quite difficult to place, and a girl in a purple hat and purple dress, and the most lovely costume. Eyes on her arms like the feathers of a peacock. Their friends apparently went missing because of... how did she put it? Laser beams," Jack said.

Slapstick's braincells struggled to make a connection that this was in fact Peacock, but from either the falling from the tree,or the mood it didn't quite connect, "Well that sucks". he commented.

Anyway-" Slapstick began before pricking his tounge, curious he use his pointed finger to feel inside his mouth,it seemed do to the world's rules his teeth were now rather sharp.

Getting to his feet and looking up at the stooping skeleton, Slapstick clicked his new fangs, "Well....either way I better get some training in, you mind if I use one of your pumpkin fields as a battleground?"

"A battleground, you say? Whatever must you be training for?"

"Lets just say, hypothetically, there may or may not be a few dozen terrible and destructive things possibly coming your way, which depending on wheater or not you like this hypothetical thing could be very bad".

"Terrible things?" Jack's expression grew serious. "Why, if there are any threats coming to Halloween Town, I must know the specifics. It's only my duty as the Pumpkin King. We can't have anything interrupting our Halloween preparations."

"Specifcs" Slapstick clacked his fangs again, still getting used to it.

"Honestly it could be anything from deranged anime girls,to gigantic monsters, to twisted human beings,to the occasional senteint commercial cartoon characters,then there was that one time with the cake......"Slapstick looked back at Jack noticing his concerned expression"....hypothetically" He added.

"I see...Well, pound as many pumpkins as you wish; it's a long way away from Halloween anyhow. They'll grow back," Jack replied, making note of these concerns brought up by Slapstick.

"Preciate it, B.B., Never got you're name by the way, mines..."Slapstick took out his buisness card(which was just a small cover of his comic book cover anyways), because he didn't want to wake everyone up wth his introduction.

Jack took the card, examined it, and put it into his pocket. "Well, Slapstick, I am Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King! Delighted to make your acquaintance."

Jack looked over Slapstick, and saw that Zero's nose had lit up. "Oh, but it looks like my dog found my rib. I should go take care of that. If anyone asks about you smashing pumpkins, tell them that Jack Skellington sent you."

"Heh like that guy in the Burton movie!" Slapstick stated, starting to walk away, before in his head a large weight labeled "REALIZATION" smashed into his frontal lobe.

Slapstick's head cracked all the way around like an owl, before snapping back, he raised his hand as if to say something,than lowered it,before continuing on his path towards the town.

Absolutely not! The receptor works perfectly, I am just unwilling to have to force the others-

Captors.

Others, and I would not want them worrying about something as simple as a camera.

Right… Audio is wrong.

Huh?... The audio being received is off. It’s like we’re outside the facility… is that wind? And running water?

Yes. The wind.

Interesting. We need to examine our surroundings at once. Booting up the visual receptors.

----

At the center of the town, on the black rim of the large fountain, there sat a small, greyish-blue device, like a severely flattened cylinder with grooves on the edges, and a set of eight rotating bulbs poking out the top. Slowly, a pale white light began to filter out of the bulbs, before turning a light blue, the hologram of Ansifel-Notary-9861 shimmering in its radiant, abstract form, the edges of its form weaving and writhing like long hair in the sea.

...We are definitely far from the facility. Maybe… maybe it’s a test.

It is not a test. They would have told you of a test.

Then where are we?

Unsure… this destination does not correlate with any of my known astrographs.

You have astrographs? How come I didn’t know?

Jinohl will keep his secrets.

Fair enough. Can you find us some way out of here?

We are still in the connectionless cage. It is impossible.

Alright then, that’s okay! We’ll just wait here then.

The hologram of the Virtual Intelligence faded away quickly as it receded back into the small device, running routine maintenance surveys as to pass the time ever so slowly. Particulate, on the other hand, simply dilated his reaction times, making minutes feel like a second for the Jinohl fragment. Ansifel did not see any efficiency in simply turning time faster for yourself; There were far too many things to do to just lay back and let the world pass you by so quickly, and as a busy-minded Notary, sometimes, the actions of Abjection were infuriating to her.

But it did not make her really angry, she thought. Anger was a real emotional byproduct of chemically-induced firings of neurons. Anger was biological. She couldn’t be angry… but she could definitely have an analogue. For their neurons, she had her coding. For their emotions, she had reactions. For their anger, she had her anger… the thinking behind it was complex, she would muse. But she wondered if it were the same for Proximate Abjection. She wondered if such an alien intelligence, with coding that seemed parasitic and irregular in every way, could feel and think the same way as her… of course not. Project: Voidmind was proof enough that he didn’t. He is directive focused, like her, but won’t take precautions for safety, won’t worry about the people, and, in fact, go out of its way to harm them… But maybe it’s not entirely that black and white. Maybe there’s more to it. Maybe-

Ansifel cut this thought short, ending the process to make more room for other commands and storage retinues. She cut the thought out of her mind entirely, deleting it and casting it aside. She wanted to think she could be friends with Proximate, but to be alike to him? That simply could not be. An ancient alien war-virus and a simple notary VI have little alike. They always would, no matter the circumstances. And Ansifel was mostly sure she was fine with that…

The following series of posts from 'doo are a backlog that takes place well before Galeemapalooza

Zandoo, H, Jawlord, and Aethetic present the long awaited Nagash post

Realm of Shyish

In the Realm of Death, within a mighty citadel of black stone and wrought iron. Infested by carrion-birds, nightbirds and wailing night-haunts. A great decrepit skeleton sat upon a basalt throne. Spiders had spun their webs across its eyes, and worms had burrowed into its mummified chestpiece. Yet the great necromancer endured. With a ghastly flicker the Ur-Death's eyes flared to life once more. Their baleful green glow scattering the spiders like fresh leaves caught in a cold breeze. Ancient vocal cords would alight as the arisen being once more sat up in its throne. Shaking off the years that had come and gone.

"I still endure... I still stand. This realm is mine. Spiders have spun their webs across my eyes and worms burrow in my chest, but I still live. I yet stand against mine enemies, I shall always do so for I can do not else. My will gutters and flares like a fire neatly stoked. The Great Necromancer awakens. I still... endure. The Champions, crushed the ranks of my servants, their power shattered my bones and cleaved my heart in two. My rites and magicks were torn asunder, my power broken upon the altar of fate. My body was left to the dust... and to the dust I returned. My soul feel shrieking into the darkness as a black comet, streaking across the underworld and the impact of it cracked the roots of my realm. I still endure. Nagashizzar is toppled, its great towers and basalt pillars are but dust. Where it once stood there is now only broken earth. In the streets where once a thousand warriors marched, the only sound we heard was the wailing of jackals. Yet. I. Still. Endure! I have pulled down the sun, cracking the seals of the underworld, and dried the seas, and burned the grasses. I have humbled mine enemies and cast the earth into the sky. Walking to and fro in the deep places and still I am returned! Nagash has arisen. Something stirs in the wild places of all that which is mine. Some power, stinking of the storm comes slinking into my domain. I sit upon my throne, in starless styx and feel it rising all above. Drawing to it that which is MINE! Souls, slip my grasp, spirits flee my grasp, thieves and invaders stalk my realm! They think me... gone. I still endure! Heed me, listen to my words those of you who have the wit to hear. The Realm of Death is my body; Its caverns are my bones, its peaks my crown, the realm is as large as my word and as small as my wish.I bestride the seas of the east and shatter the mountains of the west. My throne is in the north and my shadow is in the south."

"Wherever you so seek, I am there. Wherever you may worship, so Nagash strides. Who so ever believes in me, who so ever follows my will, the will of Nagash shall prosper! I have awakened and my enemies shall know my name again! Seek out my foes and make them yours! Seek out these theives and take from them as they have taken from me! Hear me, heed me, listen and be joyful. Nagash is all, and all are one in Nagash. Nagash has risen."

And with his word. Nagash sat back in his throne, resting his weary limbs. He would have much to do, but the chaos of the clash left ripe and ample opportunities. With his loyal mortarchs sure to return, the great necromancer could do naught but laugh in glee. Many had already died, and many were to surely die. All the dead belonged to him, and all other gods were but forfeit. In time, they would be rendered nothing more than a fragment of himself. And their stolen souls reunited with his realm once more.

However, Nagash needed to build his strength. To rekindle the vigor and powerf of days long wince past. Though he was weak and weary and though his body slumped on his throne. His loyal Mortarchs were returning, he could feel them coming from their sijourns in the dark. To serve and obey as is their purpose and duty. The most favored of all, The Liche King himself came walking into the throne-room. Kneeling before his master, as old, dusty vocal cords sounded his deep baritone. "Welcome to unlife once more my liege." Arkhan offered.

Nagash stared down upon his first, and most loyal Mortarch. His right-hand in both the Mortal Realms and The-World-That-Was. He would rest his crowned head atop his hand, and sigh wearily. "Arkhan, My most loyal and beloved of servants. Gather the rest of the Mortarchs. Scour the realms for those to press into the folds of my ranks. While you do this I shall scour my limbs for the souls that vex me so, that dare escape from their fate!"

With a bow, Arkhan would leave his master to his work, as he set out to bolster the ranks of Nagash, and further his power. Already the Grand Vizier had ideas set in motion, of great warriors and powerful mages, dead and undead who could be inducted into his throng. Neferata would be made to ressurect those long dead. That which could be of use in the grand armies of death. Mannfred on the other hand, Mannfred would take terror and death to lands that did not bend the knee. He would be the bloody, treacherous sword of Nagash. And realms would quiver at his footsteps.----------------------------------------------------------------------

El Dorado

A large shadow blanketed the entrance as the flapping of rotted leathery wings was heard.

To say that the being landed was false,it was more accurate that he fell, his tattered purple wings folding back into his body returning to the form of the cloak he constantly wore to obscure his body, before smashing to the ground,shattering bones and smashing tissue, then like an obsense magic trick he reformed.

Double King looked....different for one he was just a smidge bigger, the influnece of Slaanesh seemed to be warping his body, his large hands and feet ended not in toes but in claws like marble, sharpened and seemingly filed to long points, his eyes were semi transparent allowing one to see the twisted black worms that squirmed beneath the thin membrane, his cloak more resembled stretched ill-grown skin more than it did clothing, and the crown....

It had increased in size as well, four large points dug into the King's head at the crown's base like crab legs seemingly joining the two severed halves of the monster, while the sharp spires of the crown twisted and curved like horns, the jewels adorning the crowns blinked and looked listlessly, most disturbing of all was the unnatural darkness enveloping the inside of cloak,it was absolute like a room painted dark,windowless and fifty feet underground.

Double King shuffled in,his large ungainly crown scraping against the top of the cave's low ceiling, he observed his surroundings before clawing a crown out of the wall and feeding it to the one on his head, who swallowed it like a pulsating leech before growing almost inperceptibly bigger, before continuing deeper into the depths of the golden city, the crown morphed to resemble on the bottom of the base the crown taken.

The monarch collected his due, from the skulls of long dead rulers and locked chests, he grew, fat and bloated in obsession and in size, yet it was not enough, sending mounds of coins spillings as he moved, it was by chance he found it.

While nowhere near as pretty or gleaming as one of gold, this crown held its own, unspoken beauty, a dull brownish color with five points and a helm, more of a helmet than a crown really.

Double King pinched it with his large thumb and forefinger marveling at it in front of his bugged out eyes,he placed it in the crown mouth, almost instantly there was an effect.

The large crown twisted and pulsed before transforming into a pale,grey,and,yellowed bone formation roughly aproximating the shape of it, the eye jewels burst only to be replaced by leering sockets.

Double King raised his left hand and tapped on the side of the crown, curious.

His thoughts,usually single minded and basic,grew tumoulous with arcane whispers, that were certainly not his own.

Pain seized the King as the crown began to fuse to his own odd bone structure, it was clearly the doing of the crown, but what was he supposed to do, take it off?

Shut your mouth with that talk,indeed.

" The old gods quake in their citadels. The Warp shudders with unspoken horror at my passing...." A voice, old and raspy, but light and baritone whispered into his ear.

The King paid no mind to the arcane whispers, as he dug through the golden city.

"The Dark Prince is weak, her aelven souls gutted from her upon her death. By old enemies he once thought dead."

There was the barest of pauses this time, before he went back to looting.

"Chaos will fall, their gods shall be slain, their realm razed and set to right, and their servants decimated. No peace and rest shall be afforded them. There will be no escape, no blessed oblivion. I can end their lives as easily as I can extinguish a candle, and before their corpses are cold, I can reach out and grasp their souls. They will be my slaves for all eternity, and I shall laugh at the depths of their pain. Such is the power of Nagash."

Double King shifted his great form around, scanning the area, before lifting up a fallen pillar and looking underneath it to see if that was where the sound was emanating from, seeing nothing he hefted the pillar like a club before smashing into the next room for more headpieces

"Someone has taken my old crown haven't they? ARE THEY THE ONES WHO HAVE BEEN STEALING MY SOULS!" The Great Necromancer yelled. His voice deafening in the King's mind, leaving his ears ringing.

The King's form crinkled in suprise, then straightened out, his own rage flowed through flooding his thoughts, with the images of bloodied crowns strewn across collapsed kingdoms,they were his, even if he hadn't them yet,the voice annoyed him, but what was he but the droning of another great fly feasting on his crown.

Like a beast that wore the clothes of a man, Double King's own thoughts screamed out to Nagash's own, his own greed,the insect-like view of those who dared stand in his path.

Nagash cackled heavily, a full-on belly laugh the necromancer had not felt in aeons. This little chaos champion thought himself some kingslayer. Meanwhile Nagash had destroyed entire countries, and ended countless dynasties of his own. The Great Necromancer, the crown bound with a piece of his own soul would reach out to it. Loading the crown with his own power. An intense burning would seep into the crown and more and more dark magic swelled into the crown, before surging into his body.

The power burned fierce and bright, streaks of green and purple flame bursting from under the crown as Double-Kings flesh was melted. Flesh running in blackened rivers off his face. Boiled brain running through his now barren nasal bone. His ears popping as the fluid within turned to steam. Yet the king was not dead, the powerful energies of the crown bound him. Forcing him to unlife, holding his soul still even as he was painfully blasted from existence.

The king, no matter his actions would be forced to feel the cruel magic seeping into his very core. Until mercifully the fluids in him reached critical mass, and he burst like a meat piniata. Leaving only a gore-slicked cape, and a blackened skeleton behind. With an old Nehekharan crown attached to its skull. Yet this was not the end of the king's story. No, there would be no blessed oblivion. Baleful energies would pool in the eye-sockets of his skeleton. And the King's soul was forced, shrieking into his old, cold unliving skeleton.

Where there was once flesh, now only remained blackened bone and spectral tissue. Even though he had no body to speak of, he could feel an ever present cold. A cold so deep and chilling, he'd likely never feel the pleasures of mortal sensation once again. He was nothing more than a Wight King, an undead puppet of Nagash. "Rise and be joyful. My Mortarch of Regicide. Though you are dead, you will claim the crowns and heads of my enemies. And those I deem fit to kill."

Double King was concerned about one thing as his large ligaments drifted to the top of his undead form, feeling around for his crown,he tapped each of the points of the crown, with his bony fingers, doing it once with both hands, before walking over to another crown, not seeming to put off by being horribly destroyed and remade.

He placed the smaller crown within the bigger crown on his head, becoming Double King, or rather Double Dead King.

"Firstly, a test for you king-killer. Kill the one known as Emperor Zelevas." The Human Emperor was at El Dorado, and what more. There was a beautiful black and red crown set atop his head. It was not valuable metal, rather it was a symbolic represenation of the strength of his state. Perfect for Double-King. Nagash showed him his mark, and where he had last been seen.

Upon the coasts of Auriga, the fabled Endless World of vast secrets, as the dawn rose anew, the restless seas found their dangers arising. A flotilla of ships loomed past, their hulls brimming with their boons of the sea. But, they would never gain the profit of their work. Instead, the water around their wooden vessels would heave and foam, as from its cold waves clambered coral-edged beasts, their legs replaced with tentacles, and their bodies malformed and mutated beyond repair.

These were the Morgawr, mistakes of the Endless, and the oceans were their domain. To those who dared trespass upon the waves, they would reitierate their dominance over the waters. The watern churned as two ray-like creatures fluttered through the water, before from the mist of their thrashing came spikes, fired from the tips of their long tails. Their spikes hit their marks, impaling several sailors, allowing the Vores to swallow their prey whole with their wide jaws. And as the last ship attempted to flee, the ocean ripped open beneath it, and the massive teeth of a Leviathan sunk into its hull, dragging it under with its serpentine frame.

However, a single ship yet sailed towards the Morgawr, and the wreckage of the small fleet. Its sails were tattered and ruined, folded and overgrown with algae and kelp. Its timbers were blackened, as if it were a shipwreck, yet it still held firm. Patches of coral, barnacles and calcified scum filling in where the timbers did not. The Morgawr, hesitant yet forever enraged, stood ready to strike, their sea beasts slowly swiming closing circles around the strange, seemingly impossible ship. A Mastermind, his eyes covered over a bulbous lump like a beluga's head, looked towards the vessel from the sinking deck of a fishing ship.

Its prow was twisted into the snarling visage of some great sea beast, splintered planks filling in where teeth would jut forth. Humanoid shapes would gather upon the deck, and as the ship sailed closer one could get a greater view of those upon it. The crew of the flying dutchman were twisted like the Morgawr, their humanoid forms resembling vaugely anthropomorphic sea-creatures than any human.

The Morgawr beasts loomed ever closer, the nonagression found within the Flying Dutchman and its crew confusing them. Most would fight for their lives at the mere sighting of a Morgawr; how could it be that these beings did not even budge?

The captain of the crew, Davy Jones would slowly step forward towards the Mastermind, and beneath the waters the tentacle of some great beast would stir. Arching up towards the deck as the captain took a step unto one of its massive suckers. The tentacle would carry him slowly towards the Morgawr, and as the captain gew close one could see the baleful magic burning in his eyes. And with a great exhale of pipe-smoke the captain would mutter.

"Do you fear death?"

"Death.... fears us..." the Mastermind warned, "The Endless feared us... their own mistake... locked us away... and now they have all but perished. But we remain."

"Do ye wish to bring about yer freedom against all of creation? Ta serve death?"

The black matted hair of the Mastermind hid his eyeless face, but slowly formed a sharp-toothed grin of agreement. The Morgawr dispersed from their pursuing of the Dutchman, their connection to one another bringing the understanding that they had just become allied in purpose with the the ship before them, and with the end itself.

----------

The mist of the Aurigan morning fell upon the lands of the Wild Walkers, but so did the thrumming of thousands of sets of wings, as the skies filled with radiant morning light began to flicker in the wake of the Necrophages. Their insectoid forms raved through the forest, downing any life they could find, stuffing their maws full of flesh and plants. Their purpose was to feed, and to feed was their purpose. Necrodrones filled the air, snatching unsuspecting citizens and flying towards their hive, ready to continue their twisted propogations.

However, the citizens and the Necrophages would bear witness to a hulking, pale brute riding atop an orange-and-black steed. The beast a ghastly skeletal being, filled with spectral lights that bulged omniously in the shape of skulls. Atop it sat its rider, his humanoid form pallid and blue, like a recently deceased corpse. Yet his body brimmed with unnatural life, his ears and teeth were like that of a great bats. Jutting imposingly from his shaped skull, ridges running beneath his taut skin. Eyes burning with a hatred known only to the blood god.

"Listen and be joyful chitinous scum, and cowering mortals. Nagash hath chosen thee to serve in unlife, to bring about thine peace to reality. Lay down and thine deaths shalt be quick and merciful, kick as a wailing newborn, and thine shalt die in pieces."

The Necrophage advance halted for a moment, their Foragers gnawing on fallen men as they listened to the Vampire's declaration of service, and as he finished, they lunged towards him. One does not disturb the order of the Hive, or the order of Auriga's rightful heirs, without demanding to be devored by it.

Mannfred smiled, and his form cackled with the purple magicks of Shyish, some pure, some warped with a mixture of Dhur and old Nehekharan prayers. The sun overhead would flicker, and the light upon the battlefield take a purplish hue as several Necrophages near Mannfred slowed and dropped. Dead, their life-essence drained by the spells Mannfred was about to release.

The sun grew dim instantly, the battlefield taking upon the hue of night as The Purple Sun of Shyish rolled through the battlefield. Wherever purple beams of light shone, Necrophages either withered into mummified chitin and dust, or stopped as purple crystal ripped through their forms. Transmogrifying them painfully into statues.

From the corrupted magicks would come a Suffocating Gravetide. The very earth beneath Mannfred splitting as hordes of angry Shyisian souls ran out to grasp the living. A rolling tsunami, more akin to a sentient flood would form. Ripping and stabbing at the Necrophages with zeal known only to the long dead. Relishing in mortal sensation once again.

Accustomed to attacking with great swathes of their kind, the waves of energy and magicks sent against the Necromorphs left them disorganized and without an order, but their hunger and anger were persistent nonetheless, their swarms continuing to arrise against Mannfred, as Necrodrones began to descend from the sky in droves, the beating of their chitinous wings filling the air with a numming hum. Beyond the trees, larger, worm-like Proliferators squirmed forwards, heaving their massive bodies towards the battle, their swarms of spawn clambering against the Vampire Count. The pale man may be strong in his magic, but the Hive always persists.

The vampire smiled, a terrible fanged grimace that would strike fear into lesser beings. He raised his mighty arms, and dark magic pooled in his palms. Before throwing them high to the air. Yelling triumphantly as the slain Necrophages rose from the dead, their exoskeletal bodies filling with necromantic powers as they marched against their former hive. Those destroyed by the purple sun would arise as blue-green spectres. Shrieking as they phased through mortal flesh, dragging souls with them. Mannfred himself looked towards the Necrodrones, and felt the savage bloodlust in him welling up. His arms outstretched as they took upon the aspect of a great bat, his face and head becoming ever more sanguine as he took off to the skies. Leaving his Dread Abyssal to thunder through the ground, as he delighted in slaughter from the air.

Joining him would be a swarm of the flying creatures of Sylvania. Swarms of bats, the giant forms of fell-bats. The former-vampires known as varghulfs, and the dead Terrorgheists, whose shrieks could flay a man of both his skin and his soul. This flying host would emerge from the ground, from an unspoken of realmgate deep beneath the Earth. Chitin and flesh would meet bone and mummified skin.

In the shock of their dead bretheren rising against them, and the rise of new beasts, the Necrophage masses began to scramble back towards their homes, few staying to stay and fight the continuously growing horde against them, their deaths only contributing to the Vampire's retinue of undead. Necrodrones continued their fluttering assault, but weakened as the swarms of fell-bats ascended to meet them. This cannot be possible! The Hive cannot betray itself!

"Run you insectoid curs, run! You will only die tired! Nagash is your master, and he shall be so forevermore!" Mannfred screeched, his voice now more akin to a rabid, baritone bat as he ripped through a Necrodrone mid-flight. Pursuing the masses back to their termite-like colonies. Followed by the swarms of nightbirds and undead insects.

At the bases of their massive vertical hives, the Necrophages amassed, ready for a final assault. But before they could rush the forces of Mannfred oncemore, a single hissing voice cut through their monotonus clacking of jaws.

"Halt, bretheren. Halt, foe," a cloaked figure, standing atop a large formation upon the hive's side, spoke aloud, mandibles clicking together underneath, his four arms static at his sides, "We have survived the long winters, ever expanding their lengths, and in the brief sun, we always stood tall, feeding on what we chose. Why should we find your master as ours when we are our own?"

Mannfred would land, his limbs creaking as they returned once more to normal. His own heavy footfalls amplified by the Dread Abyssal that cantered up behind him. The vampire would lick his teeth as he walked ever closer to the cloaked figure. "Mine master rules the dead, he is the dead and the dead of all the realms above and below belong to him. He would have you serve under him, to bring death to all." The vampire, ever a disciple of lying and deception would continue. "Thine may continue thine strigoi existence if thee will kill all those who he bids. Thine may keep the bodies for whatever wretched purpose, he needs only their souls."

The cloaked Necrophage stood silent for a moment, mandibles clacking as he thought with deep intent, before dropping down from the fleshy encropment he stood upon. the Foragers and other Necrophage moving out of his way as he walked to Mannfred, staring deep into his eyes for the slightest of moments, before extending one of his hands, seeming to await a shake of hands, a humility he knew the other races found to be trustworthy. "Death brings us great feasts... And we live to consume... to propagate... to survive to continue this cycle of death... and that we shall..."

Alexandria, Egypt

The Mediterranean coastlines were calm, the sound of the waves echoing into the distance, before they were replaced by the thrumming call of crude horns. From the arid lands, marching in massive columns of beasts and soliders alike, the Horde had come to occupy the city. And yet, there was no sound of gunfire. No jets flying above them, or tanks moving to halt the force that threatened them now. The military had been decimated days before, by the incursions of the forces of Nurgle within the Middle Eastern nations. The people were defenseless, and so, they submitted to the Horde which they faced today, as they marched without opposition into the city streets, the banner of the Locust hanging over their buildings atop the backs of Brumaks and Reavers. At the head of this great army, General RAAM sat upon the back of a mighty Brumak, covered in its own special armor.

He held an armored fist above his head, and his armies halted. The Locust stood upon his massive beast, staring back upon his legions, before declaring, with a guttural growl. "THE HORDE IS VICTORIOUS!"

The animalistic cry of millions of Locust roared through the city, the ground itself shaking from their exclamation. "ACROSS THESE WATERS, OUR CONQUEST CONTINUES!"

But yet, as the Horde prepared its flotillas, an eerie fog came to cover the seas before them. Something was amiss.

The Locust readied their arms, with several volleys of weapons fire immediately finding their place in the direction of the massive ship. Readied for their ships, Seigebeasts, their projectiles lit and prepared, let loose several dozen balls of fire and shrapnel towards the Nehekharan vessel. Reavers took to the air, their pilots aiming their missile tubes towards the ancient but massive ark as they skimmed through the air.

Against the massive ark, the Seigebeasts weapons found little purchase. Though fire and shrapnel did find its way unto the deck, many of the projectiles were swatted aside. The stone statues upon the fringes of the ship moving, as they swatted aside the projectiles with their great polearms. Reavers would themselves peppered with showers of arrows, and flaming ethereal-blue skulls hurled by ancient catapaults made of sun-bleached bone. And cackling missles of pure vampiric energy. Meanwhile the ark would continue thundering towards the coast. A great flash of blinding yellow light soaring through the air as the great tail of the ship fired. The scattered beams of Hyish would hit two of their marks, the siegebeasts collapsing as their torsos were blasted apart, leaving only loose bone and a barely-supported head behind.

From within the city, inky blotches shot into the sky, as Seeders emerged from the earth below, firing their ammunition into the sky, Nemacyst. The tendril-ended pods skimmed efficiently through the sky, their descent towards the Ark leting out an unnatural scream as they collided with the ship, blackened exlosions bursting forth from the living mortar shells.

The ship held firm, although many a skeleton and ushabti were blown to pieces by the blackened explosions, or eaten away by the ink left behind. It would beach with a mighty shriek, the shaped stone carving a great groove through the sand as it continued into the midst of the locust horde. Stopping once it was completely beached upon land. Atop the great pyramid, the Locusts could see a pale humanoid figure. Her form and decor oddly reminiscent of Queen Myrrah. Yet she was undoubtedly not of Locust Origin.

The Locust prepared for another volley of fire, but RAAM, with a brutish gesture, halted them. He looked to the figure standing upon the top of the Pyramid, a snarl forming upon his overbite-ridden jaws. The figure on the boat was not his Queen, nor did her forces reminisce any with her, but the mere appearance of her amidst the skeletal forms of her underlings brought intrigue to the General.

Queen Neferata's gaze would focus upon General RAAM, and with an outstretched hand the Locust General could feel some unknowable thing reach into him, and grasp something within him. Its grasp colder than the poles of Serra. The feeling would fade, but it would linger. As RAAM was no longer a living locust, now a revenant. Sustained by the magics of Shyish. The crystal atop the boat would glow a glaring green, before exploding outwards.

The Locust staggered back, the cold permeating his being with every moment. He looked to his body, caught off guard by the shift to a peon of Nagash, as he turned to his hordes, to see if they too had experienced the same inflictions upon them.

RAAM's horde was utterly defeated, the once great legions now nothing more than corpses upon the ground. However, pale green energies swirled around them. And most would find themselves picking themselves up. Their eyes filled with a hateful green glow, their dead limbs filled with a strength beyond the living. They would never tire, and not even death would stop their underground terror.

Atop her ancient ship, The Blood Queen would smile. Her gaze burrowing into RAAM. "Now not even death can stop the locust. Your kind are all but dead, the last remnants of a species now extinct. So long as you follow Nagash's will. You may take your revenge upon those who doomed your people, and everyone else."

The ethereal glow of the Locust Horde flared with hatred, as RAAM, a snarl across his face, hissed, "WHAT IS HIS WILL?"

"Bring slaughter to the people of this pathetic realm! And the treacherous vermin that burrow beneath it! And after that, all of creation will burn!" As she spoke, blue-green lights would flutter through the night sky. As soon the air became thick with the ghastly shrieks of undead Kryll. A swarm of them gathering around RAAM's imposing figure. The General had not found the cries of the Kryll in many weeks, and their appearance here only brought him to trust this strange figure. Another growl exited his maw, "So be it. For the Locust!"

The Undead Horde let out their battlecry, as they began to embark, both out into the sea as planned, but also back into their burrows, ready to clash with the tide of scum that dared stand against the Great Necromancer.

Throughout the realm of raw mortal emotion given twisted form. The wind of Shyish blew heavily, like the bearing winds of a front moving through the land. The trees rattled in Nurgle's Gardens, winds howled through the blasted wastes of Khorne and whistled through the crystal labyrinths of Tzeentch's maze. Yet the worst seemed to gather at Aetlua's seas. The black water chruning violently as violet winds tore through the area like a violent hurricane. Islands barely stood above the water below them, a constant spray battering the coasts as something within that realm stirred. An old enemy of Chaos once thought dead, a name that even the dark gods shuddered at its utterance.

Nagash. The great necromancer had come to the warp to deal with the thief, the ursurper who stole the strength from his limbs and poisoned his realm. The titantic undead could be seen slinking through Aetulia's realm, searching nooks and crannies for the pitiful being who dared to take what is his! The Great Necromancer would stride the oceans in the mere blink of a mortal eye, baleful magics erupting around him as he kicked down the door to Aetulia's great cathedral. A swipe of his skeletal hand smacking aside Yorick Mori, sending him crashing to cold earth below.

He would stride further through the drowned cathedral, the balefire in his eyes flickering with life even when the waters enveloped and choked his body. The sea too scared to attempt its sweet, melacholy melodies on the skeletal being. Not even the Gravelord in the great catacombs bothered to stop. The undead creation instead bowing solemnly, knowing that resistance would only result in its own destruction. And with a mighty hack of his sword, Nagash cleaved apart the gates to Aetulia's sunken altar. The onyx stone quickly becoming awash with the sickly green energy of the dead rolling off Nagash.

His eyes locked onto Aetulia, and the rest was history. Her wail echoing throughout the warp as her realm was shaken to the core. The shores rapidly receeding from the gods boundaries as the skies cleared. Grasping the blade lodged in her chest, the fledgling warp-god could only sputter and whine as she slowly withered like a grape in the midday sun. Her power, her essence flowing into Nagash. Bolstering his limbs, his will flaring like a freshly born star. As the last of Aetulia's gristle seeped into the grooves of Nagash's blade and conjoined with his soul. Aetulia's realm was practically torn asunder. The seas evaporated into a black, rolling fog as islands were left as the towering tops of mountains that seemed to scale ever downwards. From the top one could see a glowing purple portal where there was once the abyss. And from it Shyish blew like a raging inferno. The gods were weak and the brass beast was no more. Now was the time for Nagash to sunder chaos itself. And make all reality in the image of himself! Such an upheval in the warp would not go unnoticed, and Nagash fully expected the ruinous powers to begin their assault upon him once again.

And so The Great Necromancer summoned his forces for their penultimate war. The war that would determine the fate of the warp itself. From the realmgate into Shyish, the undead legions of Nagash would emerge. Bolstered by his reclamation of souls from Aetulia. The Nighthaunt ghosts fettered and floated to the filth-caked swamps of Nurgle, their ethereal flesh would find no burden from the rampant, unrestrained life. To Slaanesh's realm the beasts of death would run in a slavering, savage horde, uncaring of whatever sweet whisperings the prince could offer. To the mazes of Tzeentch would march the recently dead, a sea of reanimated flesh and the vampire covens who served Nagash. Their magicks crucial to dealing with the trickster god. Finally, to the gore-soaked fields of Khorne would march the Deathrattles. The servants of the mad god would find no blood, only an endless stream of bleached bone and cursed wightblades.

With each threat sent by the Undying Nagash, a countering move was made with varying success by each of the gods, and even those without their god of war. With unyielding rage, the Khornate would continue to fight in the name of their fallen Lord of Skulls, holding their ground against the undying hordes, but staggered and slowly declining. In the mires of the Plaguefather, the pestilant mobs of Nurgle's children made efforts to fight back, but their lethargy against their foe proved to be weakening in their parts. For the warriors of the Prince, their stamina and speed kept them from the range of most of their ethereal enemies, but the sheer number of undead would surely overwhelm them in time. And in the ever-shifting maze of Tzeentch, the vampiric covens would find difficulty traversing the labyrinthine construction, all the while under their own constant assault of Horrors and Screamers. Overall, however, the forces of the Ruinous Powers were faced with a slow, agonizing, almost certain fall if the scene were to not change.

Opposite to where the battle raged in Nurgle's swamp, a thoroughly distracted Sveena took a step back from the pile of squeaky clean flesh that was a nurglite. "All clean! And Tzeentch said it couldn't be done!" She proclaimed, offering the nurglite a we-proved-Tzeentch-wrong highfive. The Nurglite, a simple Nurgling, let out a gurgle, before leaping into the swamp, splashing into a muddy pond, seemingly wallowing in it.

"Okay, what matters is.. You took a bath!" Sveena clapped, "... Even if you're all dirty now, at least I got a picture to show Tzeentch!" She Enclavian let out a giggle before poofing away in search of the god of change to deliver what was clearly important information.

The sudden appearance of Sveena startled the God of Change, who let out a yelp. "NAGASH PLEASE NO-" he exclaimed for a moment, before realizing who it was and calming down, "Oh, it's you. It's.. Not a good time." From the view around, it appeared that Tzeentch was somewhere within his fortress, as Tzeentchian daemons ran about, seemingly fortifying what they could.

As much as Sveena wanted to show off the nurglite who took a bath, she could tell that something was amiss. "Tzeentch? What's going on? Who's Nagash? Why're you so... Not-Tzeentchy right now?"

Tzeentch sighed, "Nagash is the undead bag of magic bones currently sending his Vampires to try and slay me, and the only thing stopping them is that maze." He extended a finger towards a window, which had a view over the Labyrinth and the Vampires fighting their way through it against Tzeentchian daemons.

Sveena let out a mortified gasp. "But- Wait- What!? Why? Where? I mean- Where did he come from? Why is he trying to kill you!?"

"He took the power of that sad god, Aetulia, and got rid of her so he could begin to take rein of the entire immaterial realm." The God of Change replied hastily, looking through a tome of spells rather quickly, casting them as he went.

Sveena's mouth was agape and her lips trembled while her eyes teared up. "H-He.. Killed her?" She stuttered out, ".. She'll be back though, right? Gods come back after awhile!"

Tzeentch, either too busy to respond or not caring, ignored her, rummaging through his books and furiously sending out the worst of what he could offer against the Vampires that sought his death.

While unsure, Sveena clung to the hope that Aetulia would return, as it was the only thing keeping her from breaking out into sobs. She gave a quick glance out the window before rubbing her eyes against her arm and asking, "C-Can't you just.. Teleport them all away?"

"Nagash is a god in his own manners. That means all I can do is slow them and hopefully bring them down to their last bloodsucker." Tzeentch hurriedly noted, "I need some privacy to work. Could you please go? I've heard the other realms have it just as bad, if not worse."

"Sveena!" Slaanesh ran to the Enclavian, "It's good to see you're still in one piece. Nagash's hordes have all but surrounded the Palace, and my Daemonettes cannot hold the lines forever! I don't know what to do... I thought he was dead..."

Sveena glanced around quickly, trying to think of something to help her friend through this chaos. "I-Uh- What if- A wall! What if we made a wall around the palace?!"

"I do not think that will hold them, but it could slow them..." the God of Pleasure contemplated

"Remember when you were gonna attack Nurgle a long time ago? But I kept making tree walls over and over? We just gotta keep doing that!" Sveena suggested.

"Maybe..." Slaanesh thought, worrying of the possibility of the idea's failure.

"It worked then! I just had to keep making walls until I..." Sveena paused for a moment, "... Convinced you to stop..."

"Yes, but Nagash will not stop until we are dead, Sveena! With whatever power brought him back to life, to the Warp of all places, he will not stop at a wall."

"But why? Why does he want to kill everyone!?" Sveena asked. Tzeentch's answer to the question did little to answer her question.

"His motives are entirely against ours, and he's not over killing gods to get what he wants, but other than that, I don't know, and I don't care why until his monsters are not almost at my front gates!" the Prince huffed, looking out at the daemonettes clashing with the undead creatures.

Sveena bit her lip as she looked out alongside Slaanesh. "Try the wall thing. I'm gonna check on Nurgle. If you need help, tell me, okay!?"

"Sure thing, yeah!" Slaanesh replied, but seemed obviously distressed and concerned with the fighting off in the distance.

With a quick, "I love you," Sveena vanished to see how Nurgle and his horde was faring against Nagash's onslaught. "Nurgle!" She yelped upon seeing her fellow god, "Please tell me things are going good here!"

The stench of rotting flesh and the undead filled the air, as Nurgle turned to Sveena, a look of sadness on his face. "I could never have thought this could happen... My children fight as hard as they can against the forces of the Necromancer, but I cannot hope to let them all die for me.[/u][/i][/color]

"None of them should have to..." Sveena lamented. Nurgle's swamp was likely the hardest to defend of the remaining realms. There were no grand palaces or labyrinths. It was just a swamp with some shacks and whatnot.

"... You can bring everyone to the floating island," Sveena stated, "You'll... Lose your swamp, but at least everyone will survive." Considering the floating island was birthed recently and nobody was even there, Sveena doubted Nagash's forces had invaded it. (Not to mention it was in the sky)

"I... suppose we may try..." Nurgle hesitated, his attachment to his home compelling his hesitance, "If we are... who would see to it that the undead would not follow and destroy my followers?"

"It's in the sky. It'll be harder for Nagash to get you there than here," Sveena insisted.

"...I hope you are right. They will be retreating to there as soon as they can,

"If I teleport them, I risk using up some of my power, and making myself and my kin defenseless to the Great Necromancer's greedy slaughter. They must find their way on their own, or the entire plan could fall through."

"No. I will teleport them then. I don't have an army that needs me to have a bunch of power," Sveena declared.

Nurgle's concern faded for a moment, a half-smile on his face, before he continued, "Thank you, Sveena. I will meet them there, and I hope to see you there as well."

"I still have another realm to check up on... And they don't even have a god to help them yet," Sveena responded. With that, she closed her eyes and focused on what she was to do. Teleporting the entirety of Nurgle's kin was a monumental task that proved more taxing than creating the island she was bringing them to. The God of Hope had an advantage though. She never split off parts of herself to create any daemons. She had no realm of her own. There was nothing that constantly siphoned her power. Though her lack of experience in godhood still left her a tad drained after the act.

The wailing of the nighthaunts was unhindered as the forces of Nurgle disappeared from his gardens, where unrestrained life once grew the realm became distant and cold. As the restless, hateful spirits drained the very soul of the land. Leaving behind withered grey husks, and stagnant placid waters where not even a mote of scum still lived. The restless spirits moved to the Plague Father's Mansion itself. Accompanied by the great necromancer. His gargantuan form, fed by countless souls and Aetulia's power floated unbidden by the murky terrain below.

"Nurgle, where hath your warriors gone? I did not think you overgrown sacs of filth and excrement were capable of such movement!" He spat as he began to rip apart at the Mansion itself. Baleful magics reducing stone to piles of gravel, and wood to ashen dust.

"The Immaterium has changed, Nagash. There are more powers that you know not of," The Plaguefather mocked from the safe abode of Sveena, "Your reign will end with death again, you know. Be it the Champions oncemore, or our own will, someone will come to slay you and succeed."

"You say this as you run, weak and weary. You claim me doomed when you do not even have the strength to face me! The champions are weak and divided, even as they proclaim and boast of their former glory. Powers stronger than them gather and bolster under their noses. They are a mockery of their former selves, like all life they too wither and die. Such is the fate of your immatereum. I needn't not kill you Nurgle, killing you is a mercy. When all things die. When the stars flicker and grow cold, and the husk of life finally rots. What source will you glean your existence from? Nothing! I am the Ur-Death! The final moment given form itself! Nagash is inevitable, no matter how much you delude yourself!"

The Chaos God said nothing in return, silently watching as his mire withered away, trees dissentegrating into nothing, and the water and mud alike evaporating away to a grim scene of death and devestation. Nurgle's Garden, everything he had worked to build and maintain... gone in mere moments.

"Have hope. I'm gonna get some friends to help defend the island if Nagash finds it," Sveena promised, "And when this is over, we'll get your swamp back."

Nurgle turned slowly to Sveena, a mournful look upon his face. "I hope you are right. If the others are to fall..."

"I'll bring them here before that can happen. For now, keep an eye out. I'll be back soon," Sveena ordered before vanishing. Before visiting the final realm that needed checking up on, she needed to obtain the help of some very irritating and very loud friends. Her group of far less irritating, and far closer, friends would find themselves in the arena upon her departure. She trusted Nurgle to acquaint them with the situation.

Upon appearing where she intended, the Enclavian immediately cleared her throat and screamed, "WAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" It was one of the few things she knew would get the attention of an Ork.

The very ground she stood on shook as the resounding reply of thousands upon thousands of Orks echoed and roared through the air. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Sveena never thought she would feel so relieved to see the Orks. "I NEED A LOT OF DAKKA AND ORKZ FOR THE BIGGEST WAAAAGH EVER!" Sveena screamed, "WHO'S ORK ENOUGH TO HELP ME!?"

"I'z got a queston!" A large greenskin rose his scrap-covered arm, "Will dere be flashy bitz?"

Sveena was confused, but was sure she could acquire and distribute 'flashy bitz' for the Orkz. "EVERYONE WILL GET FLASHY BITZ IF YOU DO THIS RIGHT!" She proclaimed for all Orkz to hear.

"WAAAAAAAAAGH!" Another resounding roar of Orkish acceptance, as the Greenskins marched in a disorderly stampede for the Enclavian, "WHO IZ WE FIGHTIN'?! WHO'Z 'EAD ARE WE BASHIN' IN?!"

"YOU ARE DEFENDING A FLOATING ISLAND FROM NAGASH!" Sveena answered.

"WHO'Z NAGAS-"

"WHO CAREZ!" another Ork shouted over him, "LET'Z GET TO DA FIGHTIN'! FOR DA WAAAAAAAAGH!"

Just to make sure the Orkz knew who they were fighting, an image of Nagash's forces were displayed in the air for the Orks to see. "IF YOU FIGHT SLAANESH, NURGLE, TZEENTCH, OR ANYONE NOT WITH NAGASH, YOU LOSE THE WAAAAAGH AND GET NO FLASHY BITZ! GOT IT?"

"WAAAAAAAAAAGH!" was the only response Sveena would get from the dim-witted Greenskins, unable to provide any more of a response.

"THE WAAAAAAGH STARTS IN THREE... TWO... ONE!" Sveena roared, teleporting the Ork horde a little ways away from the Palace of Pleasure. It was somewhat close enough to the floating island where the Orks' contribution would delay any discovery of the island while also directly aiding in the defense of Slaanesh's domain.

Sveena herself appeared by Slaanesh's side right after as to see how things would go.

The hordes of chaotic greenskin began to plow through the undead beasts, flanking those who were in assault of Slaanesh's palace, the sheer firepower they were able to unleah able to stem the flow of unliving monsters, letting the Daemonettes who remained to push forwards and continue their attacks against Nagash's armies, the two-pronged assault weakening their power immensely.

The Prince of Pleasure, shocked at the sudden appearance of the Orks and their seeming savior of her palace, turned to Sveena, "You really know how to pull a miracle, huh?"

"This is why it's good to have friends," Sveena smiled, turning to Slaanesh, "I'm gonna check on Khorne's place. Everyone there might be really good at fighting, but there's no god helping them."

"Well, be safe!" Slaanesh warned, giving the Enclavian a quick peck on the cheek before she left.

In a flash of green, Sveena was gone. She then stood in the realm of Khorne, hoping that the battle experience of his followers had kept them alive.

The dry, blood stained plains of Khorne were still alight with intensive battle, as the Khornate warriors, enraged at the sudden threat upon their lands, fought with every ounce of their being. The ground shook as Khornate war engines, Defilers, Heldrakes, and other machinations rushed forth to quell the undying foe.

As there was no god for Sveena to check up on specifically, she looked around for the biggest and meanest of the bunch she could spot, assuming they would have more authority, and thus, more knowledge about the current situation than the others. "Hey! You!" Sveena yelled, waving an arm.

The Khornate Chaos Lord scowled at Sveena, letting out an animalistic growl as he approached, armed with a very large, bloodied axe. "How are things going here?" She asked, giving a quick look around before looking up at the Chaos Lord.

The man said nothing, his scowl unwaivering as he continued to approach. He seemed too angered, and too far into a lust for blood, for a coherent conversation such as what the God of Peace intended. However, the Lord was shook out of this state with the thundering boom of a far off Titan falling to its demise. "You..." he growled, still scowling at Sveena, "You, God of all we come to hate, dare come here in such a time?"

Sveena wasn't surprised by the hostile reception. This was Khorne's domain after all. "I came to help," She declared, "Nagash is everyone's problem. You like war, I like peace. But Nagash wants all of us dead."

"We will hold our own without your help, whelp," the Chaos Lord gritted his teeth, beating his chest with the axe, "We are the sons of Khorne. We know how to fight."

"If you're so good at fighting Nagash and you don't need any help, then why can't you all help protect the rest of the Warp too?"

"If they cannot defend themselves, then they do not deserve to live, let alone our help. Let them fall, like the worthless pups they are," he growled, turning back towards the nearest source of combat.

"That's selfish," Sveena stated, "Khorne wasn't just about killing and blood! He was also about honor! And I looked that up in my dictionary so I know what honor means!"

"The other realms lack honor," the Lord grunted, "Our honor is to Khorne, not the Architect of Fates, or the Dark Prince!"

"And if everyone else dies, Khorne won't survive! Even if he does, if Nagash has killed everything else, who will there be left to fight after you defeat Nagash! Khorne will die then too!" While Sveena did not want to use fighting as an incentive whatsoever, she had little choice. Buying as much time for the Warp as she could was her priority.

"Khorne will survive upon the endless flow of blood spilled by both us and his foes!" the Chaos Lord dejected, slamming his axe into a skeleton.

"There won't be any foes left! If Nagash kills the other gods, he's going to move on to the rest of everything! Who will there be left to fight if everything is dead?! You'll only be able to fight each other, and I'm sure Khorne would want there to be the whole Omniverse to fight in than just a part of the Warp!"

The warrior growled, turning quickly to Sveena, "We will not help your pathetic friends, fiend. Talk down Nagash, for that will succeed before you will have our support."

"That's just what I was about to do," Sveena huffed, teleporting away. While she did not get the aide of Khorne's army, she did confirm a theory she had about the 'honor' of the Khornate. She procured Sveenbot as she teleported to Tzeentch's fortress, wanting to check in before her attempt at diplomacy with Nagash. The God of Change was still busy, sending up spells and his own forces at the Vampires, who had slowly made progress.

The vampires, though they fell. Were starting to revive at a pace that would worry even the greatest lords of change. Their master was drawing near, and one could make out his dark outline approaching. His body lit by countless screaming souls that flickered and danced around his body. Carrying and moving books, bound in tanned skin, and marked with ancient magicks known only to Nagash. Nurgle's realm was desolate, reduced to a still mire inhabited only by nightbirds and hooved-things. Now the realm of Tzeentch stood in his sights. The Citadel of the Iron Knight followed him like a child's balloon. The walls began to glow purple as Shyish saturated the realm, and the servants of the dead god fought with renewed vigor. Broken bodies and burnt flesh reknitting as the vampires and their undead hordes continued the assault.

"Do you think I can talk to him?" Sveena asked, looking out a window and down at the battle.

Tzeentch looked up from his tome, and dropped it upon seeing the Great Necromancer simply outside his fortress. "I'd strongly advise against it. In fact, I'm just gonna try and get out of here... I suggest you do the same."

The Citadel of the Iron Knight, once floating lazily behind the Great Necromancer. Was now speeding towards the Labyrinth. The skull-shaped rock cracking and glowing with dark magic as the power loaded into its foundation threatened to bust out of it at any moment. It would crash with great force into the impossible geometry of the maze, purple flames bellowed out in force as a great cloud of dust consumed the sky. The sound of breaking and grating earth filled the air, as titantic shockwaves ran through the ground. Shaking even the stoutest of warriors. When the dust finally cleared, a garish tunnel laid where there was once part of a maze. A clear shot directly towards the Impossible Fortress of Tzeentch. The forces of Nagash, bolstered by the Nighthaunts from Nurgle's realm. Swarmed into the breach, heading to the heart of Tzeentch's realm.

"If you promise not to be mean to Nurgle, you can stay at the floating island," Sveena offered.

"Yes, Yes, Yes." And like that, Tzeentch had wisped away, seemingly taking his underlings with him in a fell swoop, narrowly missing the grasp of the Necromancer.

Sveena turned to Sveenbot before vanishing as well, leaving behind the robotic puppet in hopes of engaging in diplomacy with Nagash. Its bright green eyes opened as Sveena spoke through it, "Nagash!"

The Necromancer, who had smashed through the pristine walls of the Fortress. Turned his gaze from the Frozen Moon, down to the lowly mortal who dared interrupt him. "Speak your words and be done with them!"

"Why are you attacking the Warp? Why are you trying to kill everybody?" Sveenbot asked, glaring up at Nagash.

"Chaos is chaos, they cannot stand me. Nor can I stand them. When Nagash slays the final warp-spawn, Chaos shall end and in its place will be Nagash! When Nagash has split this realm and rendered it but rubble and dust! I shall look out upon my desolation and call it good and know contentment! With their destruction I shall remake all reality into an image of perfect order. All will be one in Nagash, and Nagash will be all!"

"But why would you want that? You'll be alone, without friends! Without anybody!" Sveenbot gasped.

"Nagash will be all and Nagash SHALL be all! All other gods are but shadows of Nagash, Sigmar or Khorne, Dark God or Light! They will fall before Nagash. There will be no god but Nagash. The stars will set forever, and in their place shall stand Nagash!" The Great Necromancer hissed.

"But why do you want that?"

"All the dead of all the realms belong to me! Those who know not of me are yet my chattel. With life exterminated there shall be no more chaos. Nagash will be free to remake all of reality in his own image. I shall be all, and I will be all! I am the Ur-Death! The Nightmare-Force in all living things! When the living cry out in their dreams it is Nagash that they see! It is Nagash that they fear, and it is Nagash they shall succumb to."

Sveena only barely understood what in the world Nagash just said, or rather, why it was said. But one question that was on her mind was, "Have you ever had a friend?" Sveenbot asked sympathetically.

"Cease your attempts at peace. With a gesture I could crush your limbs and usurup your skin! To fill you with mouldering air so that your wails echo forevermore! The warp shall fall and there is no phrase, sentence or words in all the tongues of all the realms that can stop me from my task, nay my duty!" He stated to Sveenbot, grasping her in two of his fingers.

"That doesn't mean I'll stop trying. Not just for the Warp, but for you too."

"There will be no escape, no blessed oblivion. I can end your life as easily as I can extinguish a candle, and before your corpse is cold, I can reach out and grasp your soul. You will be my slave for all eternity, and I shall laugh at the depths of your pain. Such is the power of Nagash. You will bear witness to the desolation of all you hold dear, and be all the more powerless to stop it!"

"You wouldn't be the first, and I haven't given up on them either."

Nagash's hand flickered with unholy light as he began to channel a fraction of his power into Sveenbot. Her necrodermis body would flicker and waver as the material holding her together rapidly degraded. Even the necrons could not stave off time and entropy itself. Her form fading away into fine dust on the wind as Nagash turned his attention elsewhere. With a wave, he dismissed his servants. And turned his gaze to the Frozen Moon once more. Reaching out with palms outstretched, the frozen rock slowly began to descend towards the fortress. Growing ever closer as it sped to a blistering pace. The impact of the object, bolstered by Nagash's own will cracked the roots and foundation of Tzeentch's realm. The Great Tree crumbled into useless drywood as the Great Sea flew out of its container. The blasted, crystal wastes of Tzeentch were cracked and ruined in a fraction of a second. Debris rained, cloud-sized fragments of rock thundering through the air. Their impacts further shattering the realm once held by the Trickster God. Where once libraries and bastions stood for the arcane. There was now only the sound of howling wind, and fine dust that choked the lungs.

There were only two realms left. The land of the absent mad god, and the fluid-choked pits of The Prince. Khorne could wait, he was nothing more than a skeleton resting on a throne. The prince however, was ripe for the taking. With great strides the Necromancer, followed by wailing Nighthaunts and Spiteful Vampires. Would head for the Dark Prince's Realm. He had worked hard to get to this point, and he would not be denied.

Considering how hostile Khorne's folk were, it made sense Sveena would pop in at Slaanesh's domain as well. "Hey Slaanesh! So, um.. Nurgle and Tzeentch kinda had to.. Leave their realms and now they're on the floating island. Khorne's people said they wouldn't help us," Sveena unhappily informed.

"Well... at least you brought the Orks... right?" Slaanesh asked, concerned for her palace even further.

"Yeah, but... Nagash himself is either coming here or going to Khorne's place. And since he's trying to kill the gods right now..." Sveena trailed off, downcast.

"Oh..." Slaanesh stated quietly, as the inevitability of the Palace's fall dawned upon her, "I... should go?"

"We'll lose the palace, but we can save you and the daemonettes. There should be enough room still in the arena on the island," Sveena offered.

The Prince sighed, looking over her Palace one more time, "Sure... I guess I can rebuild if we make it out of this..."

"We will make it out of this. Things getting better starts with hope," Sveena swore.

"I really hope you're right, Sveena... If Nurgle and Tzeentch already gave in... How can we face Nagash on any sort of fair playing field?"

"We still have Nurgle and Tzeentch, and we have the Orks," Sveena stated, "And we have friends outside the Warp. There's the Necrons, the Slann, and the Champions."

"Still... You think that'll be enough?

"I can hope..." Sveena replied. She wondered if, under these circumstances, if other groups she had met in the past would be willing to aid the Warp. After all, Nagash made it clear that he wanted to destroy literally everything. "I mean, the Champions killed you guys before, so they might be just as good at stopping someone else from killing you."

"They're good at destroying things, so who knows," Slaanesh sighed, "I guess I'll be heading to that island now..."

"... Hey... Siv told me something a really long time ago. If someone keeps going in... That way, it's just like, a cliff right? And it goes down forever or something?" Sveena asked, pointing in the direction she recalled.

"I... I think so?" Slaanesh tried to recall, "Why do you ask?"

"I have an idea. First, let's get to the island," Sveena smiled.

"Alright, let's go," the Prince of Pleasure nodded, before she and her daemonettes and various followers were transported to Sveena's island. Sveena looked over to the Orks with concern.

"HEY!" She yelled, "WE'RE.. Uh... TAKING A BREAK! YOU CAN STOP FIGHTING! NAGASH IS COMING AND I DON'T WANT YOU GUYS TO DIE! WE CAN FINISH THE WAAAAGH LATER WHEN WE HAVE MORE DAKKA!"

A collective wave of disappointment rose from the Ork mobs, annoyed that they could not keep fighting.

"I PROMISE WHEN WE FINISH THE WAAAAGH THERE'LL BE MORE DAKKA AND FLASHY BITZ THAN YOU'VE EVER SEEN!" Sveena yelled.

With another few whines of disagreement, the Orks returned to the island, most seeming bitter to not have gotten their 'propa waaaagh'.

Sveena poofed into the island's arena, assured that all loose ends were tied. Nurgle and his kin were safe, Tzeentch and his underlings were secure, Slaanesh and her kind were protected, the Orks were guarded, and her friends were out of harm's way.

"Nurgle! Tzeentch! Slaanesh!" Sveena called for her fellow gods. It was time to lay down a game plan.

"Not forever!" Sveena declared, "Just until we can get help. I'm pretty sure the Necrons will help if I ask, the Slann might help because I'm their friend, and the Champions will help for sure. Right now though, we need to move the island."

"And where would we move it? Nagash has control of every realm save for Khorne's, and even that will eventually fall." Nurgle stated.

"That way!" Sveena pointed in one direction for a split second before quickly changing where she pointed, "That way! If we keep going that way, we'll go past like.. A cliff or something that goes down forever! And since the island floats, we can just keep going!"

"Ooooh! That's why you asked me about that back at the Palace!" Slaanesh realized, "But... If Nagash takes hold of the last realm, wouldn't he essentially hold all the power of the Warp? "

"When people do sex, does your palace get power, or do you get power? As long as we still have each other, all Nagash has is a bunch of land," Sveena said confidently.

"Fair. But won't he find us eventually, even if we're on the move? We need options, and we need 'em now!"

"What about the Horned Rat? The Skaven and Nagash have never had an easy relationship. I would say their hidden realm could be a place to hide." Nurgle suggested.

"They're... Not really nice though. We could talk to them I guess," Sveena replied, "First, we should get the island over the cliff and far away. Me and Slaanesh can do that. Nurgle, can you make a really, really big cloud of disease that covers like... As much of the Warp as you can? That way it's hard for Nagash and his people to see and stuff. It'll slow them down."

"I can try, but it may take some time," The Plaguefather gurgled with a nod.

"Great, don't get any in Khorne's place though. I don't want to get them sick.... And mad at us. Tzeentch, can you start making the ground a laber.. Labinth.. Like your place! They'll probably be able to break through a bunch of it, but it'll still be hard for them to get around with that and Nurgle's cloud," Sveena quickly inquired.

"Alright, where?" Tzeentch asked, a map of the realms of Chaos appearing behind them, a little blip indicating their island, "I can't cover all of it."

Sveena stared down at the map for a moment, only briefly going, "Oooh!" before regaining a more serious demeanor. "A bunch of Slaanesh's place and then towards Khorne's place, but not actually in it," Sveena answered, "Since Nagash is trying to get to Slaanesh right now, that'll slow him down. Then since there's labernith.. lab.. that going to Khorne's place, he'll think we went there."

"Alright. But why at Slaanesh's palace? Isn't that place already-" Tzeentch made a fart noise with his tongue, making an explosion with his hands.

"When me and Slaanesh left, Nagash wasn't there yet. If he's there now, then he'll be inside the thingy," Sveena answered. She didn't really question how it was that she could think even remotely strategically. It almost felt natural; perhaps she had been in scenarios similar to this in her past life.

"Makes sense to me. Now that we have our defenses getting layed out, though, we have to think of what to do next."

"Once we get the island really far away, I'll start getting help. You guys should stay here since.. The Champions still kinda don't like us. All of your people will probably want you to stay here too," Sveena stated, "For now, let's do the plan."

The Chaos Gods nodded, and went off to fufill their given duties. The skies below Sveena's island began to thicken with a green fog, streaming full of horrid, flesh-eating blights and poxes. In the distance, through the Nurglite clouds, one could see flashes of cerulean light, as the ornate, geometrically impossible labyrinths and mazes of Tzeentch began to form from seeming thin air, trapping a many of the Necromancer's forces within their impossible walls and paradoxical forms.

"Okay, Slaanesh, let's the move the island. I was thinking we should teleport it to the cliff and then just have it keep moving on its own," Sveena suggested, "It won't be fun, but it'll make sure Nagash won't see us going over there."

"Right," Slaanesh affirmed, "Let's begin, shall we?"

Behind giving the entire Necron collective individuality, teleporting the entire island and everyone on it would be the most taxing task Sveena could undertake. Unlike the Necron situation, all that effort needed to be expended in a matter of moments rather than over a long period of time granting chunks of Necrons souls. At least she had help from Slaanesh in this as she focused her will on poofing the island safely away. The island itself quaked and rumbled, before, in a flash, it shifted in its placement from above the realms to their side, slowly drifting away from the ravaged lands.

Sveena promptly flopped onto the ground with a small groan. "Oh gosh.. That was not fun," She mumbled.

"Yeah... that took a lot out of me too," Slaanesh huffed, barely managing to stand after her work had been completed.

"Yeah... Hey, wait... where's..." Slaanesh thought, sitting down to catch her breath as she did, "Aetulia?"

Sveena was silent for a moment before solemnly answering, "Nagash killed her." Of course, gods come back to life after a long period of time, but the concept of even temporary death was still heartbreaking.

"Oh..." Slaanesh gasped slowly, falling back onto the grass and looking up to the sky, her head propped up on her arms. "So that's how he got in... I'm sure she'll be fine..."

"I hope so," Sveena lamented.

------------

The Under-Empire, Skavenblight

In the chapel of the Horned Rat. The council of thirteen schemed and planned against their hated undead rival. The one that had united the fractured race once had risen again. However, no matter how deep they would burrow. The Necromancer would scour and follow them. Collapsing tunnels all the way. He was unassailable to them, but not to a certain dead god.

The council bickered and quarrelled, teeth were beared and squeaks of anger exchanged. The vote came down to the wire, with the 13th seat raising his hand in favor.

"And so it shall be. All Skavendom, my treacherous children. Heed my words and obey for they are the key to your survival. Surge forth, slaughter for the sake of slaughter. Let rivers of viscera follow your paw-steps. Bring untold ruin the likes of which has never been seen upon all the realms! Such is the will of the Horned One!"

With the will of the Horned One made manifest, the Grey Seers of the Skaven were quick to toll the bells of war. Chieftans and warlords were summoned, and the earth heaved as the ratmen prepared to visit ruin upon the filthy otherlings, who suffered the worst crime of all. Not being Skaven. The five clans, united in the purpose of their god would give man reason to fear the vermin he has so far eluded.

Terror would Erupt in the cities of Overwatch. Rio De Janero would face a zealous onslaught from the monks of Clan Pestilens. Forgoing their usual diseases methods in favor of more brutal, tearing attacks. New York City would heave as arcane machinery chewed through the foundations of the low lying city. Buildings and land would crumble into the shallow waters as skyscrapers fell. Great pits were erupted in the earth, and citizens could only run and scream as skaven contraptions chewed through them. Men, woman and child alike dying to warpshot, warpfire and the mad sorceries of Skyre.

In Europe, amongst the streets of Moscow, and the old cities of Central Europe. Clan Moulder would release their murderbeasts onto the streets, accompanied by a tide of rats both four legged and bipedal. Hell pit Abominations bulldozed through buildings, rat ogres brutalized streets and cars and all occupants therein, and a tide of wolf-rats, giant rats and rat swarms ran through places like a living carpet. Dragging people down and quickly scouring every morsel of flesh to fill their pitiful stomachs. In Beijing the shadows themselves seemed to move, humans cut down like young bamboo from unseen assaliants. Survivors hid wherever they could, hoping that they would not join the countless dead on the streets. Only to see the blood red eyes far too late.

Finally, In the grand city of Sydney. The ranks of Clan Mors marched. Legions of Black Furred Vermin, and countless clan rats ran through the city. Sacking, raping, murdering and torturing wherever they went. Borrowed machinery ripped through foundations and brought whole blocks down into the undercity. Bridges were gnawed through, and roads collapsed. The inhabitants of Sydney were treated to a harsh, if quick genocide. The ratmen preffering to get in close and dispatch the unarmed populace. Staining their fur in the blood of filthy man-things.

This senseless slaughter, in this realm and others was for a singular purpose. To bring back the Blood god, so that he alone might drive out Nagash. However, the glut of dead would only serve to add fuel to Nagash's legions, and add ever more power to the Necromancer. A price the Horned One was willing to have others pay.

The Enclavian deliberated on how best to recruit Yukari's help for the fight against Nagash for a very long while. Considering everything she knew, it seemed as though not even the threat of Omniversal destruction would be enough to sway the boundary youkai so long as Yakumo loathed Sveena.

Despite her previous attempts and potential ideas, she was drawing a blank on how to warm up Yukari's cold, cold heart. "Sing her a song? No, she probably hates songs," Sveena mumbled to herself. Her thoughts drifted to the information generously supplied by the stalker person that had dumped a treasure trove of Yukari backstory onto the internet.

She used to have a friend, even a boyfriend before she changed her name to Yukari...

The hamster in Sveena's head finished its snack and finally started trudging along its wheel, and ever so slowly Sveena formed one of her greatest ideas yet. If she could resurrect her friends after death, so long as she had their souls, what if...

=====

War. Of course that was what it had all come down to. Ever since the establishment of the Lunar colony, a bloody and violent war against the Lunarians were all that remained for humanity. Even with advances in artificial intelligence research and weapons development, hundreds would be drafted into the war, and even still, hundreds were slaughtered.

Luckily for Doctor Shigoku, his intelligence made him too valuable to have his life wasted to the Lunarians. Experiments with plasma and development in the combatative artificial intelligence made him a useful asset to prevent further human death, and ever since his recent promotion, was now dabbling in perhaps the most incredulous experiments he could hope for; resurrection.

”What do you mean disregard of Yagokoro’s research?!” A young woman ran over with her arms full of papers. “She’s the best we’ve got, especially with your refusal to accept funding from the Kochiya foundations!”

”Might I remind you of the incident that went down some eighty years ago.” Shigoku pressed a button, promptly causing a robot to hum to life. “I refuse to accept that woman’s work, no matter how brilliant. As for Kochiya, you may tell whichever corrupt executives there to fuck off.”

The doctor pointed towards a hatch, directing the robot into the frontlines. Complacently, the machine stomped out the door to join its bretheren in what was most likely a suicide mission. Once the robot was out of sight, the doctor wheeled himself over to the specimen chamber, containing a soldier missing half of his head and most of his lower body, dead for several days.

”I’m certain there has to be another way. Some way to consistently reguvinate cells without the use of synthetic chemicals with -augh- alchemy. An electrical shock, perhaps. I’m not sure myself. There just has to be some other way....”

"Hello, Hiro!" Proclaimed a young, excited voice with a Bostonian accent from behind Shigoku as the room briefly was filled with a bright, green light.

War robots promptly stood alert, guns aimed at the newcomer. Scientists and engineers gasped upon the sudden arrival of the intruder.

”What th- who are you?! How did you get past security?!” Shigoku stumbled into one of his machine guards, startled by the sudden interruption.

Standing before him was a half-naked woman who looked as if she could have come out of a cartoon of inappropriate nature. She had cat ears that matched her short, auburn hair, and forearms and calves covered in fur that lead to hybridizations of paws and hands, and paws and feet respectively. Her clothing could best be described as a green, metalllic bikini with a skirt.

Despite her 'catgirl' appearance, the top of her face made her look more like a raccoon, as there was either black makeup, dirt, or something staining her skin. Her paw-hands were clasped together, and her big smile and bright green eyes were pointed directly towards Shigoku.

"Oh, my name is Sveena, and.. I teleported!" She answered happily.

“What do y- teleportation doesn’t exist! It shouldn’t! Not even the Lunarians have achieved such... technologies....” Though he was still left in a state of shock, the doctor calmed himself upon the revelation that he could have access to teleportation technology, which could turn the tide of war.

"Oh, it's just... A thing I can do! Since I'm a god!" Sveena exclaimed. The way she spoke, while excited in tone, made it seem like her proclamation of godhood was casual, as if she were telling someone she was merely an employee at a fast food joint.

”Quiet, Ariya!” The doctor held up a hand to his coworker before turning his attention back to Sveena. “What do you mean by god? Gods don’t exist! Put down this act and explain yourself, woman! You could be very helpful to human kind if you do.”

"Okay, technically you're right about gods not being real, but everyone calls me a god anyway just because of power or something- But that's not important! What's important is I found you!" Sveena proclaimed, "Hiro! Except.. You don't remember your name is Hiro, but your name is Hiro! Before you died, and then you ree.. en.. Ree.. Reincarnated!"

“Definately a loon. Guards!” Robots immediately primed their weapons, with a few even firing a few warning shots. An especially bad decision in the middle of a space station.

”Oh my goodness, would you all cut it out?!” Shigoku waved aside his employees and his robots before addressing Sveena once more. “I’m not the man to judge beliefs, but explain yourself. Why on earth did you come to me? I’m a very busy man, and much prefer not to be distracted while trying to save the whole world. So please, I must ask you to please explain everything. In a brief manner, too. Every second I waste, I’m contributing to the deaths of many innocent people!”

Sveena opened her mouth to answer, then paused. “Wait- People are dying?! Why?” She gasped with concern.

Rather than the doctor himself, one of Shigoku’s robots answered Sveena instead, giving her an automated history of the Lunar war, summarizing the advancements in affordable technologies allowing for humans to leave Earth and explore space, ultimately leading to growing tensions with the local Lunarians, eventually escalating into full warfare. The automated voice message described in extensive detail the casualties on the human side, the drain on resources, and the necessity for the exponential development of technologies.

”So as you can see, I really need to get back to my work.” Shigoku turned back to his specimen. “So if you can kindly, and briefly, describe why you’re here and get out, I will be a marginally happier man.”

"That's less important," Sveena waved her hand as she asked urgently, "Where are people dying right now?"

Exasperated, Shigoku fought back the sigh he almost exhaled. “Nearly everywhere on Earth, the moon, and in between! Now, if you’re done bothering me, might the assistants direct you to the exit over there.”

"Oh my gosh!" Sveena gasped, ignoring the second half of whatever it was Shigoku said, "How big of a war- Hold on, I'll be right back!" In a flash of green, the god vanished.

“What a bizarre woman!” Shigoku motioned for the robotic security to return to rest. “I wonder what that-“

Moments later, a booming, etheral version of Sveena's voice rocked both the Earth and Moon, HEY! No more war! Stop it! Talk it out! Nobody's allowed to die now!" And, by the command of a god, all wounds incurred after that moment (And any wounds already incurred) were to heal on their own. Anyone else who died because of senseless warfare after this decree would have their souls forced back into their healed bodies.

With that, Sveena returned to Shigoku. "I'm back!" She exclaimed. Typically, she would have preferred a more diplomatic approach to stopping conflict, taken the time to talk to both sides, but time was something she did not have an endless supply of. Besides, she was sure everyone involved would prefer her 'no more dying' solution to the problem.

“… How in the world did you…?” It was all a bit much for even the brilliant Shigoku to wrap his head around. "… I'm… thoroughly at a loss for words…."

"It's a lot easier to keep people from dying than it was before. I have a lot of practice!" Sveena exclaimed, "It's still.. Kinda hard though."

"How is that even possible?! From a political, social, and scientific standpoint, it should be impossible to do all that and end a war just like that!"

"Well, I think the war is still going on a little bit, but I think it's stopping now that people are figuring out nobody is dying," Sveena mused before asking, "What does 'political' mean, by the way?"

"That's not important," the doctor snapped, not so much out of contempt as it was disbelief in the goddess. "How did you do it? Or, since I suppose I won't get an exactly scientific answer from you, what do you need from me that would warrant the need for… that?"

"I'm getting you and your girlfriend back together!" Sveena proclaimed, spreading her arms out with joy.

"Excuse me, what?!" Shigoku always considered himself above matters such as romance and relations. What did this woman mean by "girlfriend"?

"Oh, right. You forgot stuff because you reincarnated.. Um- You had a girlfriend! And her name was Maribel! But.. Then she changed her name to Yukari!" Sveena explained, "She's really sad now, and I think if you guys got back together, she'd be happy and nice again!"

The great doctor blinked. "So from what I gather," he began slowly. "You claim that I, following what I assume to be the Buddhist reincarnation cycle, used to have a love interest named 'Maribel.' And you want me to go back to her and pull her out of depression, I assume?" Despite the numerous scientific fallacies in what he described, this woman did somehow end an entire war in a matter of minutes, single handedly. Perhaps logic was best forgotten forever the situation.

"I don't know what 'Buddhist' means, but yes!" Sveena nodded happily.

"Suppose you do take me to her. What's to say she hasn't moved on, or I won't reciprocate their feelings, or any number of things won't happen? After all, if what you say is true, then I should be a very different person from the man- I'll assume you speak of a man-that you just described."

"I mean, you didn't like her at first. But then you kept her from getting hit by a train or something and then she was being nice to you and stuff because you never smiled ever, and she wanted to get you to smile, and then eventually you guys fell in love!" Sveena explained, as if she were summarizing her favorite romance novel.

"That isn't answering the question. Why are we even talking about this here?!" Shigoku, suddenly aware of his surroundings, turned to his coworkers. "All of you get a one week vacation starting right now," he stated dismissively. "Out! All of you!"

Promptly, the scientists scurried out of the laboratory, leaving Shigoku and Sveena alone. (The robots are all long since deactivated.)

"See?! And you were like that! You were like, mean, but also really nice at the same time!" Sveena pointed out.

"That's still not answering my question. Again, the person you describe may be a very different person from me, save for a few coincidental similarities. I might not even like this 'Maribel,' and she might not like me back. And, of course, why does this matter so much to you?"

Sveena smile slowly dropped as she let out a sigh. "Because... Yukari is... A really... Mean person now. She's hurt me a lot, and... I just want want her to be happy. She's just really sad. She has no actual friends, just pawns. She's all alone... You don't have to fall in love with her I guess, but can you at least try being her friend? Now, you might not like her.. At all at first because she's not a really good person right now, but I'm sure that she'll come around. It'll just take a little bit of time."

“And why do I care?” The doctor folded his arms. “If this ‘Yukari’ person is a nasty woman, why should I even try? Why do you even try, might I ask? If she’s troubled you so, why bother?”

Sveena thought for a moment before answering, "Because she can be a good person... Everyone deserves at least one friend, to be happy... And... If she's happy, if she has a friend... Nobody else will get hurt like I did."

“Alright, that’s a good point. Still, how will this affect me specifically? What happens if I decline your offer?”

"Well... Nothing happens. I'm not gonna force you to come with me," Sveena admitted, "... But I did just end your war."

“You’re right there, too. I suppose I do owe you....” The doctor contemplated his options. He could either decline this woman’s pleads for help and return to his normal life, from which he would probably face unemployment and suffer the consequences of his own mass automation of Earth, or he could go with this woman and perhaps think about his options. Then again, quite literally anything can go wrong....

“Excuse me!” The doctor gasped in shock. “I am a cultured man! If you’re going to use sex to allure me to helping you, I’m afraid it won’t work.” He seriously began to consider unemployment.

"I didn't say anything about sex," Sveena blinked, not seeing what Yukari's large breasts had to do with intercourse, "One of my friends told me I should mention her boobs."

“Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to have to try harder if you want to convince me to help you and your... ‘friend.’”

"... You'll be stopping people from dying!" Sveena offered, "I think she eats people. I know for sure she kills people, or gets other people to kill people."

“Wait- WHAT?!” The doctor lost his composure once more. “You’re telling me that you want me to befriend a psychotic mass murderer?”

"... Yes!" Sveena nodded, "If you befriend her, she won't be so unhappy anymore. Then she won't be so mean anymore. Then she won't kill people!"

“B-that’s not how it works!” The doctor began storming off in the opposite direction. “I thought you wanted me to socialize, not pacify a demon! This is suicide!”

"She lost everything!" Sveena argued, "And she is alone! Please, if it doesn't work after awhile, I'll bring you back here. I just... I know she can be a better person... But she doesn't have anyone to be a better person for, and after losing everything... I think.. Maybe she's scared.. To have a friend again."

The scientist paused midway out the door. Though he didn’t remember having any special connections to anyone in the past twenty years of his life, he did admit that the existence the woman had described to him sounded absolutely miserable. She had a point in that nobody deserved to be alone. Then again, this was a mass murderer she was talking about. Perhaps some things are best left to rot in their little hells. Then again, it would be a lie if he said he wasn’t curious as to what the woman had described, particularly in the reincarnation cycle. Perhaps once all this nonsense was over, he could have a basis for his future research, provided this mysterious woman was telling the truth....

”... Give me time to pack my things,” he ordered.

Sveena squealed with joy, teleporting beside Shigoku and quickly snatching him up in a big hug. "Ohmygoshthankyousomuch!" She said far too quickly.

“Argh! Not too tightly!”

Sveena released the man with a yelp and apology, "Sorry! Sorry! Just, um.. Uh.. Yell my name when you're ready! I'm gonna go check up on her first! Bye!" With that, the excited god poofed away in her typical flash of green light, clapping happily as she did so.

“... What did I drag myself into?” The scientist sighed as he prepared for his long voyage ahead. Little did he know just what he was dragging himself into.

=====

A Memory of the Phantasm....

“Your prognosis isn’t very good, Ms. Usami.”

What a waste of talent. The most brilliant medical mind between both the Lunar and Terrestrial world, and what was Eirin Yagokoro doing? Tending to dying children. “You’re in a stage where not even the most advanced therapies in either chemo or nanorobotics would yield promising results. I’m sorry, but there’s not much we can do for you.”

Of course, Renko was in a state of comatose by this point. There was not much she could say, nor was there much she could do, especially about what was going to happen. Eirin liked her status of power. For once, the guinea pig wouldn’t scream, at least.

”The following mixture will cause brain death within a matter of moments.” The doctor filled the syringe with a transluscent substance. “At the same time, I’ve loaded it with enough nutrients and hormones to simulate cell growth. That way, once your body cleanses itself of my little creation, I can just say you died of cancer, just as the story was going this whole time. It will be over for you quick.”

To a certain degree, Eirin felt as though it were a waste. The resources invested to keep up this little lie, hiding the true nature of the Usami family curse. At the same time, Eirin knew there wasn’t use in crying over it, either. Renko’s fate had been sealed all those centuries ago, after all.

”Good night, Usami.”

Eirin administered the drug into Renko’s bloodstream.

=======================================

“Merry! You’re not late for once.”

It took Hiro admittedly longer than it should have for him to recognize his girlfriend. Granted, he never thought of Maribel as the type to wear anything “glittery,” usually opting instead to wear more conservative clothes, usually with little color saturation. It came as a surprise to Hiro when Maribel came running up to him in an almost galactic purple single-piece dress, with the occasional white or amber crystal studded onto the dress. It almost seemed like Maribel was wearing a slice of the fabric of the universe. The makeup only added to obscure the girl’s generally recognizable features, with the bright red lipstick and the rosied cheeks being an almost alien concept to Hearn.

“Well? How do I look?”

”What do you think? Gorgeous, as always.” Hiro gently gave Maribel a peck on the forehead. “Just never thought you’d dress up for the occasion.”

”It’s prom night, you dork! Of course I’d dress up!” Maribel giggled as she grabbed Hiro by the hand, dragging him as though she were a child pulling on a wagon. “Come on! We’re wasting time! Hurry before all the best spots get taken!”

Despite being a good three or five inches taller than her, Hiro was powerless against the escstatic mess that was Maribel, and simply let himself be dragged forward by the electric and vibrant woman of his dreams.

As to be expected, a small congregation of young couples, packs of girls, and a number of loners made up the crowd. Couples dominated the center, dancing away to the slow and romantic tunes put on the radio. The sororities drifted about like clouds in windy conditions, peppering the dance floor and the sidelines. Of course, the loners stuck to the walls, where they would feel greater security.

”Oh my gosh, this is so cliche.” Maribel giggled at her own joke, and even Hiro had to smile a little. “You know where we go first, don’t you?”

”You tell me. I’ve never been to a dance before.”

”Come on, guess! It’s no fun otherwise!”

”Ummmm....” Hiro searched his mind for the most cliche school dance tropes. “... just hit the dance floor?”

”Of course not, silly!” Maribel’s eyes glossed over the entire intricately designed dance floor, her eyes drifting over to a more glorious prize.

”Pig out in the concessions, duh!” Almost like a blur, Maribel skipped her way over to the food bar, analyzing every single cake, punch bowl, and chocolate fountain.

”We’ve been dating for two months, and you still surprise me every day.” Hiro chuckled.

”What can I say? I love food!” Maribel shoveled half a donut into her mouth in a manner reminiscent to a frog having caught a bug a bit on the larger side.

”You’re such a pig, Merry.” Hiro took a step back to avoid the playful arm Maribel swung at him. “It’s kind of cute, to be honest.”

”You’re such a dork.” Maribel allowed chocolate to coat the two strawberries she skewered on toothpicks, offering one to Hiro. “Eat it! It’s actually pretty good!”

In a stark contrast to Maribel’s almost barbaric nature of eating, Hiro took more refined nibbles out of delicacy. Granted, it really did taste wonderous, but he was always the more restrained individual when it came to food.

”Ironic. The psycho’s the one who’s restrained in eating.” The smile melted off of Hiro’s face as he remembered his unfortunate condition. When was his last outburst again? Fourteen years ago? When would his next one be? Hopefully Maribel would be far away when it does....

”What’s the matter?” Maribel took note of Hiro’s discomfort.

”... It’s nothing.”

”You know better than lying to your girldfriend.” There was no getting past Maribel, was there?

”Wakey, wakey.” Hiro grabbed Maribel by the shoulders and shook her around violently.

”Wh-OHMYGOSH STOP!” Maribel laughed as Hiro gently placed her back on the floor.

”Did that wake you up at least?” Hiro gently took Merry by the hand.

”Yeah.... Not really.”

”Can you at least walk?”

Maribel took a sluggish step forward. “... Kind of.”

”Good enough. Now get over here.” In a sudden movement, Maribel accelerated into twirl, spinning like a top. She let out a small shriek as Hiro gracefully guided her to the dancefloor, perfectly in step with the music. Clearly the more refined between the two, Hiro’s graceful movements were akin to that of gentle flowing water, which was emphasized next to Maribel’s hopeless floundering in attempts to keep up with her more skilled companion.

”’We’ve been dating for two months, and you still surprise me every day.’ Well, you’re no different yourself.” Maribel found herself being tossed back and forth as though she were caught in a storm, with Hiro being the winds that blew her around.

Hiro’s almost violent tango came to an end when the song came to a slow decresendo, signifying the end of one song and the beginning of another. Within that brief moment, however, time seemed to slow to a crawl as Hiro gently tipped Maribel backwards, giving the two a perfect glimpse into the others’ eyes.

If eyes were the windows to the soul, then Hiro’s soul was essentially an onion. On the outermost layer was the silent and wellbehaved student that Maribel met at the train station all those years ago. Beneath that was the fun-loving side that she had only recently drawn out. And beneath that was a man of culture and grace; the one who had literally swept her off her feet and into the dance arena. And yet even beneath that was a fire. Hiro concealed his mental imparities deep within the darkest reaches of his heart, and Maribel knew why. The fire that burned within constantly threatened to burn through the boundaries that held it in place, lashing out at anyone too close.

Yet where most saw fear, Merry only saw strength. A soul that cared not for society or culture. A torch to illuminate the dark shadow that society cast. A ruthless dragon guarding its treasure with ferocity unlike any other. And within that dragon’s pile of gold, Maribel saw a mirror at the very top, with her own visage reflecting back. This was what Hiro kept in the very center of his heart and mind. Maribel had become the very center of Hiro’s life, just as Hiro had become the center of hers.

The two needed not exchange words as they pulled each other in, catching each other in a hug-kiss combination. And even when the music started back up, they refused to release the other.

========================================

Of course, just as Hiro hid the darkness that dwelled within from Maribel, Merry herself witheld a few evil secrets of her own from Hiro.

”Can I stay over at your place today?” Maribel hugged onto Hiro as the two walked to Hiro’s residence.

”Hm? Yeah, sure. The bed’s kind of small, though. If you want, I’ll sleep on the cou-“

“Oh.... um....” Hiro unlocked the door to let Merry in. “... Here, you wash up first. I’ll figure out how we can sort ourselves out while I wash. Is that okay?”

”Alright.”

Maribel basically flew through her evening routine, as she couldn’t take her mind off of the revelation that she and Hiro would spend the night together. Actually, time itself might as well have sped up, as Hiro seemed to finish just about as soon as he stepped through the bathroom door.

”Sorry it took me a while,” he said. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

Maribel flicked off the lights as Hiro slipped in beside her, after which she almost sandwhiched herself onto her companion.

The remaining details of the night were but a hazy memory afterwards. Whether or not Hiro or Maribel fell asleep first was a fact all but forgotten to time. The only things for sure were that the two lovers slowly drifted to sleep in the other’s embrace.

That, and that this was the first of the nightmares.

It wasn’t fifteen minutes after drifting to sleep did Merry find herself already awake. After groggily checking the time, she turned over and laid a hand over Hiro.

But instead of being greeted to Hiro’s warm flesh, Maribel instead rested her hand on cold metal.

”What th-“

”G҉̡̬͟R̨̺͈Ȩ͔̰Ę͍̟T͚̫̜Í̳̠N̺̼̳Ǵ͈̝S̻͇͓,͔̙͢ ͓M͝҉̖͓̮A͢҉̨͍͈R̢̼̮Í̜͡B̻̟͟E̶̶̻L͈̼͡ ̛҉̠̤͔H͈͟͡E̥͝͝A̸̧͜R̳̻̬Ǹ͠͠.̩͕͠ ̕͝͠I̸̜̮’͉́͢V̬̻͍E̴̕͞ ̶̀͞B̜͍̀E̪̯ͅE̗̬̜N̷̮̺ ̷̸̟M̢̘͝E̠͜͠A̰̫͢N͈̦͡I̷̵҉̠͉̬N͈̘̻G͓̞͡ ̖̀͝T̴̜͘Ǫ̕͡ ̻̫́Ţ͍͢Ḁ̪LK TO YOU FOR A VERY LONG TIME NO҉W.”

”Wh-who are you?” Maribel leapt out of the bed to get away from whichever creep had crawled into the bed during her sleep.

The dark figure slowly pulled itself up to meet Maribel in the eye. For whatever reason, the monster looked almost exactly like her, except being more... aged. The wires that resembled hair were now waist-length and stood a good eight inches or so taller.

”What do you want?” Maribel crawled up to the window in the back of the room.

”I... I’m afraid you must be in the wrong house.” Maribel stammered as she tried to reason what was going on. “I don’t want to be part of some... big... kingdom of evil. I... I just want a normal life. Please, just leave me alone. I want to go back to sleep.”

”Merry! Merry, what’s going on?!” Hiro bolted up awake as he flicked on the lamp by his bedside table. “Is anything happening to you? Are you hurt?”

”Phone! Phone! Phone!” It was just a dream, but Maribel knew that it had been a good few weeks since she last checked in with Renko, making sure everything was okay. “Phone! I need a phone!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Hiro snatched up his smartphone and quickly swiped it open. “Do what you need to do.”

In a flurry of finger swipes and taps, Maribel quickly dialed in the number to the hospital.

”Hello? Eientei pharmacy. How may we be of service?”

”I need doctor Yagokoro online, now! I need to talk with her immediately!”

It took only a couple seconds for Eirin to be put on the line, but it felt like an eternity to Maribel. “I’m busy dealing with a case of malignant liver cancer,” Eirin huffed into the phone. “What do you nee-“

”Hi! This is Maribel, and I need to know how Renko is doing! Please, tell me!”

Eirin paused for a moment, and in that moment, a hundred or so thoughts zipped through Maribel’s mind. And when Eirin finally spoke again, her worst suspicions were confirmed.

”Renko Usami is dead.”

=============================================

“You couldn’t have been more blunt, could you?”

The great yōkai sage sat alone in the empty school yard. As far as Yukari was concerned, her little depression-break was coming to a close soon, and knew that she needed to return to orchestrating her own demise soon enough. Still, she needed to address her personal turmoils before she could return to scheming.

"Hello!" Came a cheery voice that Yukari likely loathed.

“How did you get here?!” The furious violet eyes of Yukari transfixed themselves on the intruders. “Get out!”

"Wait wait wait! I have a surprise for you!" Sveena defended, "You'll really like it, I promise!"

“You’re not wanted. GO!” A street sign fell into the boundary yōkai’s hands. She wasn’t in the mood to fight, but was more than willing to if she had to. “Go and make somebody else miserable, you tramp!”

"I got Hiro!" Sveena quickly said with her hands held up midway, "He's the surprise!"

Yukari hesitated for a moment. Was Sveena telling the truth? Something buried deep within the spirit stirred. Something happier. Something more innocent. Something... hopeful, even. Only to be drowned out almost immediately by the cynicism of the demoness of boundaries.

”Hiro Aiyato is dead,” she roared. “He’s gone! A simple human being to join the rest of the hundreds in the cycle of reincarnation, to be forgotten forever! There’s no way you can possible have him.”

"Okay, he- he did forget stuff because the reincarnation thing, but- but.. He's like.. A lot like he was before! Like.. His.. The way he acts!" Sveena explained, "I found him for you.. So you can be happy."

Yukari paused for a moment and slowly turned to see precisely what Sveena was talking about. It was outrageous; she knew that Hiro had been destroyed long ago. But still, even the slightest and most faint glimmer of hope was enough to inspire interest in the yōkai.

”... Look, I’m really not so sure about this anymore....” Doctor Shigoku took a nervous step back when he saw the woman with the street sign in her hands. The inhuman look of something truly evil glinting in her violet eyes. “... Maybe I should... go ba-“

”You call this ‘Hiro?!’” The yōkai turned away almost instantly. “He’s nothing like the boy who died so many years ago! You liar! Go away before I find and destroy everything! Have it cruelly torn away from you! Before I take your happiness and tear it into little tiny shreds! Just... just the way... it was done... to... t-to....” Yukari lost the will to finish her statement, choking on her own words as she tried to suppress the memories.

Sveena looked over to Shigoku and gestured forcefully towards Yukari.

The scientist understood what Sveena wanted for him to do. “... H-Hello-“

”DON’T TALK TO ME!” Yukari screamed as a flurry of energy bolts flung themselves at the doctor.

Sveena let out a yelp, quickly teleporting him away and bringing him back when the flurry subsided. "Yukari!" She huffed, "You don't have to be like this! You can be happy, I promise! I know how it feels to lose everything. You put me through that. I don't want you to feel like this anymore. Hiro's soul is in there! And not just any Hiro! That soul is the same soul of the same Hiro you were with!"

“Don’t say his name!” Yukari’s rage was beyond that of action, being reduced to doing nothing but screaming. Or was it despair? Perhaps it was both. “And don’t you dare bring that... that imitation anywhere near me!”

”... She kind of has a point,” Shigoku whispered. “I’m not... feeling anything....”

"I told you! You didn't feel anything at first before either. She almost got hit by a train and then you saved her. Then, eventually you fell in love with her," Sveena reexplained.

“... I don’t think this is supposed to be like that....” The doctor gave a worried glance at the unstable Yukari. The usually composed yōkai of boundaries now seemed as though she would break at any moment.

"Well I'm not gonna throw a train at her!" Sveena sighed, looking back to Yukari with worry.

At this point, the yōkai was too weak for words. She merely trembled where she stood, back facing towards the duo. She was effectively reduced to a state where she was perfectly helpless. A point where Yukari couldn’t fight back or even flee.

At long last, after a multitude of gruelling locations within the Clash, the weakness of the boundary yōkai was discovered.

"... Yukari?... Can I give you a hug? I don't know if you'll get mad at that or not," Sveena asked, "You just.. Look like you could use a hug."

I JUST WANT TO DIE!” Tears welling in the corners of her eyes, Yukari unleashed a fleet of trains upon the warp goddess, despite knowing how futile her attempts to fight were. At this point, Yukari had passed her breaking point, and logic was out the window.

Sveena, once again, teleported Shigoku away for the duration of the attack. Meanwhile, she herself let out a few yelps as she teleported up, down, left, and right to avoid the barrage of trains heading her way. Though her survival was low on the list of what was on her mind. What took priority was what the yōkai had just screamed.

Satisfied the area was safe and clear of trains, Shigoku was returned once more. Sveena was at a loss for words.

Just like his lover from his past life, Shigoku trembled where he stood, although for him it was moreso out of fear. Sveena hadn’t exactly told him that he was to court a monster who could bend reality as his task. Even a psychopath or a mass murderer or even an exotic alien he would have been more willing to court!

At the same time, there was pity to be had in this... this creature. The way she begged for death to escape the pains of life were like those under the suicide watch list. (Those under risk of mental disabilities or suicidal tendencies were sent to the doctor for neurological enhancements to better fight the battle against the Lunarian forces.) This monsterous woman was as terrifying as she was... pitiful? He felt no connection with the woman grovelling fifteen feet away from him, but something told him that he ought to try something, if only as a doctor to patient.

”I have an idea,” he whispered to Sveena. “But you shouldn’t make any attempt to stop me. Am I clear?”

"Are you gonna get a train?" Sveena whispered back.

”... Please bring over one of the robots in the experiment ward back in my lab,” he instructed in a hushed tone. “You’ll know it’s the place because it has the big ‘E’ on the walls, and there’s giant robots everywhere. I don’t care which one you bring; any of them will work for my idea.”

"Got it. Yell if you're about to die," Sveena nodded before teleporting away to find a robot. After a few seconds, she returned with one of the machines that pointed its guns at her when she first met Shigoku.

“I guess you’re right,” Shigoku called out to Yukari. “I’m not your guy; the one who died years ago.”

Though he wasn’t into the whole “reincarnation” idea, he figured that if there was even the slightest bit of connection between him and this “Hiro” character, his idea may be worth a shot. He gently tapped the robot on the shin plate, promptly causing the machine to rumble to life.

He then turned to Sveena. “I guess your efforts were for naught,” he continued. “You pulled me out of my world, and ended the war. I now no longer have a purpose in that world, and I suppose I have no more purpose in this world.” He shook his head to the warp god while making an “X” symbol with his hands, clueing in Sveena that everything he said was not true. While Sveena did not get the clue, she obediently did nothing to stop Shigoku.

Shigoku then stood before the robot’s camera’s, in front of which he slid his finger across his own throat, making a decapitation movement. “... Guess that means I’ll just die.”

Triggered by the pre-programmed gesture, the robot began to execute the “samurai terminal:” the code that Doctor Shigoku was either beyond saving or had betrayed humans to the Lunarian’s side, both of which signified a necessity to end him. The robot stepped back as it trained its dual and plasma cannons on the defenseless doctor. Shigoku was glad Sveena had chosen the most unrefined and incomplete model, for the charging of its weapons was unmuted and loud enough for everyone to hear in a fifty kilometer radius.

And this was when something cracked in Yukari. She was familiar to the process of reincarnation, and how the soul was essentially “wiped” of all memories and personality, giving the soul a fresh new start. It was foolish to think she could go back and save the soul of Hiro, and even then, the reincarnated bodies were completely anonymous. Yukari had no way of telling if this was even Hiro in a past life.

But then again... there was always the chance. The chance that this had, indeed, been her beloved psychotic boyfriend. The love she had lost years ago, and whose pain still tortured the yōkai to this day. Something deep inside Yukari had, for the first time in centuries, crawled out and showed itself for the world to see.

Maribel Hearn could not bear losing Hiro a second time.

In almost lightning reflexes, Yukari spun towards the doctor, summoning a gap to pull him away from the robot. The doctor disappeared into a gap right as the machine fired its plasma cannons. Yukari then summoned a gap directly above the robot and sent a building crashing down on it, leaving behind a pile of rubble and scrap metal. Years ago, Hiro had saved Maribel from a metal menace of death. Now, thousands of years later, Maribel would be the one saving Hiro from said machined monster.

”... One of my finer works,” Shigoku lamented as he saw the sparking mess that was his latest robotics project.

Before he could do anything else, Yukari pulled Shigoku towards her, rolling the doctor around in her arms to check for damages. Once she had done a full sweep through, Yukari took a moment to stare into Shigoku’s eyes, seeing if there was, by some miracle, any remnant of Hiro still left inside.

”... It’s still not the same.”

Yukari pushed the doctor away from her, returning to sulk under the tree branches.

Sveena was speechless for a moment, trying to comprehend what in the world just took place. She wanted to freak out about the attempted suicide she just witnessed, and had even opened her mouth to do so, but decided against it.

"... You're.. Not the same either, Yukari," Sveena said shakily after that hectic display, "But.. That doesn't mean you weren't Maribel. He's changed, but... He's also the same."

Something flared back up in Yukari. Although it wasn’t to the same degree as before Shigoku’s “suicide” attempt, the yōkai still bit back with bitter anger, much like getting bitten by a boa constrictor as opposed to a cottonmouth. “Shut up! Hiro Aiyato, Maribel Aiyat- Hearn, Renko Usami, they’re all dead. All of them! Stop talking about the dead unless you wish to join them!” Yukari scowled as she tried to forget these three names. These three people.

"Please, Yukari," Sveena begged, "Give him a chance, just like he did for you."

“Never!” Yukari’s hair flared up as though it were a squid poised to attack. “No more chances! I will never fall for the same mistakes as I did all those years ago! I will never go through that same suffering! I will never jeapordize people... people I.... p-people I..... Just go away!” Once more at the brink of tears, Yukari manipulated the boundary of “robot then” and “robot now,” effectively resurrecting the pieces of scrap metal. “I... I just want to be alone.... Everyone’s already seen the monster that I am, and that is what I want! That way, I won’t have to drag anybody else down when I die... just like I did to so many good people... so many years ago. So just... leave me alone!”

The robot assumed a threatening posture, warning the others to stay back as Yukari weapt.

Sveena wouldn't approach Yukari, but that didn't mean she wouldn't talk. "Everyone has seen you at your worst. You're right about that," Sveena started, "... You made another me kill herself, you manipulated me, you made me hurt others and turn against my first friend I made, and... You've done so much... But... You don't have to be that anymore... You won't drag people down if they're your friend and you die... I've lost friends, and I felt horrible... But... I'm happy that I knew them. They were my friends... And... Even though I was sad... I wouldn't go back and not have been their friend. If you do die someday... I.. I don't want you to die so unhappy.. Without a friend..." Even she began to tear up as she spoke, both at the memory of what she had been through, and the prospect of a grim future for Yukari.

“And that’s where you’re wrong....” The boundary yōkai finally mustered up the courage to look Sveena and Shigoku in the face as she spoke. Her violet eyes were reddened around the edges from the tears, but still looked nevertheless so threatening even after crying. “Some things... do deserve to die unhappy. Alone. Some things are so far beyond redemption that death is the only good thing that can come from them. And of these monsters... the better ones are those that show it. The ones that show that they deserve to die. Haven’t you realized why I hate you so much? Why I despise everything about you?” The yōkai glared at Sveena with stubborn eyes.

"Uhhhhmm..."

“You’re too positive,” Yukari screamed. “You only see the ‘best’ in everyone, even in those that have none! You refuse to accept that somethings don’t deserve life or happiness! Why must you be so insistent that ‘everyone gets their happy end?’ Why can’t you just learn that some things just can’t be good, no matter how hard you try?! Why can’t you realize that about all the problems in your Warp?! About the enemy you face?! Why won’t you realize that some things are incapable of change, no matter how hard you try?! Why do you want these things to live alongside others, huh? Why do you want shadows and demons to lurk among good people?! Why won’t you just accept that I am a thing that must die?!” At this point, Yukari broke, collapsing onto the ground as a puddle of tears began to gather before her knees.

Sveena's heart wrenched at the barrage dealt by Yukari, and then the sight of her bawling once more. "... Because you were hurt... That... Doesn't mean what you've done is okay, but... You... Everytime someone tells me that something can't be saved.. That I should just... Shoot it... That I should just... Let it die... I see more of it... Some of my friends... The daemons in the Warp... Even you... I... My friends are my friends because I didn't give up on the ones that murdered people... The daemons in the Warp are... Alive because I didn't give up on them... And both my friends and the daemons... Have changed. Sometimes it's hard to get someone to change, but... It's even harder for them to think they can change... You've done a lot of bad things, Yukari... And... I'm sure a lot of people want you dead.... But... You can do good. I believe in you, even if you don't believe in yourself... Because you're not just... Evil... You're not just a 'terrible person'... You've... Been hurt... That's why I don't give up on you. We've all done horrible things... We need someone who will forgive us... And be a friend." Sveena did not feel the need to spell out her period of sadism to Yukari when mentioning that everyone is guilty of atrocities in some shape or form.

Yukari didn’t have the clarity or the stability to think of a rebuttal to Sveena’s monologue. Instead, she opted to merely sob and cry, too defeated to do anything else.

"I forgive you," Sveena said, "Please, forgive yourself, or at least try." She would have took a step forwards, but knew the robot wouldn't allow that. She could simply teleport the machine away, but didn't want to take that away from Yukari: the choice to do so.

The towering robot stood motionless for a period of time, before ultimately charging its enormous plasma bolts, as expected. Sparks flew from the unfinished energy guns before the droid finally fired. However, when it did unleash its volley, it turned towards a new target. Rather than firing at Shigoku and Sveena, the machine instead fired down on Yukari herself, sending the yōkai roaring in pain as she smashed against the sidewalk.

"YUKARI!" Sveena scramed in terror, whisking the machine away before teleporting to Yukari's side, frtting over her and directing a healing wind towards her.

“I do whatever I want,” Yukari snapped. “Just let me be. I don’t want to die with people who call me a friend. I don’t want to hurt them anymore. So please. Just. Go. Away.”

Sveena slowly shook her head as she blinked away tears. "I... I can't.... That's not what.. A friend does."

“I am not your friend.” Yukari seethed as she struggled to stand. “I do not deserve ‘friends.’ I’ll just drag them down... like I always do. So please, just leave me ALONE!” A gap enclosed Yukari as the yōkai tried to teleport herself away from the kind words of Sveena. The kind words that tore into her very soul, sparking dark memories of a distant past.

“... Talk about sensitive.” The doctor remained silent through Sveena and Yukari’s crying match.

"Do you think I should follow her?" Sveena asked, wiping at her face to make sure it was dry. The Enclavian wanted to pursue, but decided getting a second opinion might be beneficial.

Shigoku shrugged. “Beats me. You do you, I’ll... uh.....” The doctor tried to look for a way back to his lab, or really anywhere that wasn’t quite heavy. “... I’ll... be waiting, I suppose.”

"Okay, if you need me, just, um.. Shout," Sveena gave a quick wave before teleporting after Yukari.

If Maribel’s education in psychology told her anything, it wasn’t a healthy idea to dwell on depressing subjects while suffering from grief, as it would only stimulate the sadness. Yet even despite her better judgement, Yukari found herself observing Renko’s funeral for the thousandth time, watching herself attend the event.

Contrary to most movies, the sun was out and shining in the July afternoon, as a gentle breeze offered some escape from the sweltering humidity. Yet despite the heat, everyone was garbed in black, as per standard funeral tradition.

Yukari tearfully gazed down at the mournful crowd as machines lowered the coffin. Maribel hardly looked up to see her friend off, spending most of her time with her face buried in Hiro’s chest, crying a river of tears.

”Pathetic,” Yukari muttered as she watched Maribel weap. “You don’t even know the worst of it yet....”

Besides, it was clear that Maribel was far from the most devastated individual present. Despite showing little phyiscal proof of pain, an elderly woman stared expressionlessly at Renko’s coffin as it joined the rest of the old woman’s family. Renko was laid to rest right beside her parents’ own graves, having been killed by a car crash years prior, leaving the old woman, otherwise Renko’s grandmother, the last of her family line.

There was a subtle green light from behind Yukari before Sveena silently stepped up to her side, looking onto the funeral alongside her. She was unsure of what to say, or if she should even say anything, while the event before the two of them took place

“And now,” a robot squawked through its speaker, “may you find peace in a better place. Ren-co. Oo-saw-me.” The linguistic-interpretation, even with all the AI advancements in the last decade, were still in taking their baby steps as the robot butchered Renko’s name. On her own funeral, no less.

“We had fun,” Yukari murmured as she wiped a tear away from her cheek. Despite the thousands of years that separated her from this funeral, it still hurt the yōkai all the same.

The elderly mute- “Sumirenko,” as Yukari called her- gently approached the open grave to see the lowering coffin. The old woman stared blankly as workers and robots began to fill the pit, as old memories from Sumirenko’s past filled the grieving woman’s mind.

”Foolish, isn’t it?” The boundary yōkai acknowledged Sveena’s presence. “To be so broken over something that can happen to anyone. Something so normal and even cliche. For me, the powerful yōkai of boundaries, to be torn up over something as simple as... this.”

Sveena looked to Yukari, then back to the grave. "... If she was your friend then... It makes sense to be sad," She replied, feeling some of the youkai's misery, "It doesn't make you.. 'foolish'... Even if people die all the time, it's important to you."

Yukari said nothing as the machines finished filling the grave, and thus heralding the funeral’s conclusion. “I’ve done terrible things. So many people want me dead... even though I can’t. And of all things I could have spent with my eternity, I’ve made people suffer. There’s nothing left for me... so why do you insist on saving me? What do you want?” It seemed that Yukari was at last willing to talk.

"... You might think there's nothing left for you, and... Even if you're right, there can be," Sveena answered, "Some of my friends, the Warp gods, spent forever doing the same thing, hurting people... But that doesn't mean they can't do good, and now they have. They need help doing good, but... That's fine. Being selfish and hurting others is... Normal to them, they're really used to it... The whole time I was helping them do better, I was thinking about you... I kept telling myself that.. If I can help these guys that have been so evil for so long... Then maybe I can help Yukari too."

“That is...” Yukari paused to think of the right words. “... a very selfish thing to say.”

"A bit... Yeah," Sveena admitted, "I felt a little bad for thinking like that, but... People are happier now. That's what I care about. And I know that... If I can help you, help you do better, help you be happy... Other people will be happy too. Sometimes being selfish doesn't always mean being selfish."

“Is that what you want? You want me to be happy?” Yukari turned half her face towards Sveena, staring daggers at the goddess of hope. “If you want me to be happy, then stop helping me. Nothing here makes me happy, and nothing here will make me happy. You... you won’t understand.”

"I thought the same thing after you betrayed me... But.. I wasn't.. Feeling that way for a long time though. How long have you been sad?" Sveena asked, looking to the youkai of boundaries with empathy.

“... You really want to know?” The scene shifted into Hiro’s room. Maribel lay curled in a fetal position as Hiro sat beside her, lightly patting her back.

”I hate you for wanting to keep my bound to this... this miserable plane of existence,” Yukari mumbled. “... But I suppose you deserve the full story. And not just being told what happened; that won’t....” Yukari swallowed. “... that won’t convey the magnitude of everything. You are naíve, but you’ve stuck around for so long. Sit back and watch.” Promptly, Yukari fell to silence as the past continued to unfold.

”Don’t be so hard on yourself, Merry. By the time anyone found out, it was far too late for anyone to do anything.”

”I should have noticed sooner! I shouldn’t have been hit by that stupid train and pull the doctors’ attention away from-“ Maribel couldn’t finish the sentence as she wailed into a pillow. “It’s my fault!”

“No Merry, it isn’t.” Hiro ran a hand through Maribel’s hair. “There’s nothing you could have done. Stay here, I’ll get you something you might like.” Hiro reached over to the bedside table and offered Maribel a small piece of chocolate, which the crying girl took. The sugary treat did remedy some of Maribel’s sadness, even though it did little to stop the crying.

Maribel grabbed Hiro by the sleeve and yanked him back onto the mattress, clutching his arm with a grip like that of a snake constricting a mouse.

“... Or maybe I’ll sleep here. That works, too.”

“It didn’t matter what the occasion was. He would always do anything to make me comfortable. Make me happy.” Yukari spoke with a choked voice. “... I should have noticed earlier.”

"Noticed what? That he always tried to make you happy?" Sveena asked, glancing between Yukari and the scene.

The yōkai nodded slowly. “If I did, then maybe he wouldn’t have....” Yukari didn’t finish the sentence, instead letting the memory tell the story for her as the scene shifted once more.

A considerable amount of time had clearly passed, considering the leaves in the morning light were oranges and yellows contrary to the previous scene’s dark green. As light trickled through the curtains and onto the bedsheets, Hiro slowly blinked himself awake. As the first thing he did for the morning, he looked Maribel’s face over, in a manner eerily similar to how a miser would continuously check their pocket change to make sure not a single coin was missing. After confirming that Maribel was indeed safe and fast asleep, he proceeded to glance at the calendar.

”Today’s the day.” Hiro slinked off of the bed and crept into the bathroom, trying very hard not to wake Maribel.

”... One of my favorite memories,” Yukari whispered. “He put so much dedication into making sure my 22nd birthday would be greatest I’d possibly have. And he certainly lived up to that claim.” For once, a smile crept across Yukari’s face as her eyes welled with tears. Not a manipulative sneer like the one she’d usually give her puppets or victims, but a genuine grin of fondness.

Slowly, the bathroom door creaked open as Hiro snuck towards a small cabinet. He opened the bottom drawer and withdrew a small piece of paper and a small black box, which he hastily shoved into his jacket pocket. He quickly scribbled a note on the paper and placed it on top of Maribel’s cap before changing the time on the clocks and calendar, before quietly exiting the room, making sure the door shut as silently as possible.

Fifteeen or so minutes had passed before Maribel awoke. Maribel instinctively reached behind her, and immediately bolted upright when she felt the empty mattress beside her. “Awake already? I thought I always woke up first....” Maribel then turned to her cap and read the note.

”We need to talk. See me outside.”

Without even showering, Maribel bolted for the door, throwing it open to be greeted with a tackle from Hiro.

”Happy birthday, sleepyhead!”

“W-AAAAAAAAAAAH!” Maribel screamed as Hiro rolled around the mattress with her. “I just woke up! Not so tightly! I can’t brea-get off me!”

Hiro relented his assault as the two of them sat in bed, laughing like a pair of idiots. “Hurry up and wash,” Hiro said after another second of laughter. “I made plans for today to be perfect. Come on, we’re on a tight schedule!”

Even Yukari herself let out a small giggle as Maribel disappeared into the bathroom. “You weren’t kidding when you said it would be perfect.”

The rest of the day afterwards seemed to be a blur. From Maribel’s favorite eateries to even visiting places she thought of going offhandedly, Hiro paid careful attention to Merry’s interests, and throughout her birthday, he kept an almost obsessive eye to ensure that Maribel was happy.

Finally, the whirlwind of a day began to end as the orange skies of dusk heralded the night.

”You paid attention to everything,” Maribel noted as she shoveled spoonfuls of rice into her mouth. “It’s almost creepy- not saying you’re making me uncomfortable at all, of course! It’s just that I never expected for someone to pay such close attention to every little thing I said!”

Hiro chuckled. “I wouldn’t be fit to be your boyfriend if I didn’t, would I now?”

“I was just thinking aloud when I said I thought the flower garden looked pretty. I never expected you to actually take me there or even remember no less!”

”How could I ignore such things when you’re everything to me?” Hiro lay a hand over Maribel’s. “Even the little details are noticable, sweetheart.”

Hiro hardly touched his plate as he watched Maribel eat. “You’re not hungry?”

”Watching you eat is all I need,” Hiro dismissed.

Maribel continued to shovel food into that blackhole that was her stomach, and Hiro patiently waited for Maribel to finish every single plate.

“... There is something I want to tell you,” Hiro began as Maribel wiped away the last bits of food from her face. “And I thought about telling it now.”

”Hmm?” Maribel looked up at Hiro. “What do you mean?”

”Being with you is great and all, but I’m just not happy with it anymore. I’ve been thinking it’s time that we just stop being couples.”

Maribel’s eyebrows knitted with concern. “Wait, what?”

”I’m done being your boyfriend.” Hiro stood up from the table as he withdrew the box he hid earlier. Promptly, he opened it to reveal a ring. It wasn’t anything oout of the ordinary or even unique in appearance, but it had the unmistakable diamond at the tip nonetheless. “I want to be your husband. Maribel Hearn, will you marry me?”

Maribel screamed as soon as Hiro finished the sentence. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Of course! Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!” She flung herself at Hiro. “Of course I’d love to! Of course I-” Maribel choked as a tear began to run down her face. Likewise, the thousand year old Yōkai of boundaries smiled at the scene as well, still warmed by Hiro’s words.

Sveena didn't know what the significance of the ring was nor did she know what a 'husband' was, but she could tell how happy it made Maribel. She glanced at Yukari for a moment, noting her smile before returning her gaze to the scene.

The surroundings shifted again, this time transitioning back to Hiro’s bedroom.

”I hope you had fun, sweetie.” Hiro gave Maribel a peck on the cheek, “Again, happy birthday.”

“... Actually, there is something I want to give to you, too.” Maribel wiped away icing from her face.

”Wait, it’s your birthday. When was it birthday tradition to give someone el-“

Hiro did just as instructed, keeping his eyes shut as Maribel “prepared” her gift to Hiro. Eventually, the sound of the bathroom door opening filled the air.

”Remember to untie the present where the bow is,” Maribel instructed. “You can look now.”

Hiro opened his eyes and was greeted with Maribel’s back turned to him. Sure enough, the bow was placed o-

“W-Merry, I can’t do that!”

”It has a bow on it. Go ahead and open your present.”

”But it’s on-“

”I know.”

”But... What’s the-“

Maribel turned her head sideways, with her face cherry red. “Just hurry up and open your gift,” Maribel ordered. “The longer you don’t do anything, the more awkward it’s going to get.”

”... Merry-“

”Just open your damn present already! Before I get too embarrassed”

Hiro began to open his present box as the scene shifted. “You don’t need to see that specifically,” Yukari said, as the memory jumped to the very next morning. Sveena pursed her lips, thinking for a few moments as to what the present could have been and what was skipped. After a moment though, the look on her face showed she came to the realization as to what Maribel gave Hiro.

Maribel awoke earlier than Hiro. As she blinked herself awake, Maribel smiled as she stared into Hiro’s face, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead as she reached for her clothes. Maribel slipped into her undergarments as she reached for a small rod-like device that stuck out of her front pocket. She gave Hiro another loving glance before sneaking into the bathroom.

A few seconds passed before Maribel screamed. Hiro immediately snapped himself awake and almost bolted out of bed, before pausing for a moment to look for his own clothes. He eventually shrugged and just took the entire blanket with him, wrapping it around him like a bath towel.

”Merry? What’s going on?”

Maribel didn’t need to say anything as she showed Hiro the results of her little test.”I’m so h-”

The scene shifted once more. Maribel and Hiro were almost sandwiched together, as if their hands were held together by superglue.

”Do you think it’ll be a boy or a girl?” Maribel looked down at her stomach, which was still rather flat.

”It won’t matter.” Hiro tightened his grip on Maribel. “As long as you’re happy, I’ll be fine with anything.”

Maribel nuzzled her face against Hiro’s chest. “Think about yourself for once, geez!”

”How could I think about myself when you’re the one with the baby?” Hiro gave Maribel a peck on the cheek. “All I’ve got to do is make sure that you stay safe. You and our child. If anything as much as touches you, I’ll… well, they’ll have to get through me first.”

Maribel giggled as she returned the kiss to Hiro, who promptly kissed her back. It didn’t take long for both to find themselves in a make out session, which was quickly interrupted by Hiro accidentally knocked the ring off of Maribel’s hand.

”Oh no!” Both tried to grab for the run as it rolled in between the planks of the oriental wooden bridge they stood on.

”Stay there, I’ll get it.” Maribel approached the bridge’s railing.

”I can just buy another one,” Hiro offered. “Don’t feel like you have to trouble yourself.”

”Come on, it’s just five or six feet. I’ll be fine.” Maribel slipped herself over the railing and let herself fall to the bottom of the drying creek. “See? Perfectly fine!”

”Don’t get yourself hurt,” Hiro warned.

Maribel gently stopped down to pick up her engagement ring, before another hand shot out from under the bridge and grabbed hers.

”Hey! Let go!” Maribel jerked her hand away, but the hand continued to hold onto.

”Merry? What-“ From above, a thug grabbed Hiro over the mouth, chloroform covering his mouth and nostrils.

”Where did y-HIRO!” Maribel shrieked as the large man dragged Hiro away, with another coming from behind Merry herself, grabbing her by the chest.

”Hey! Let go!” Maribel tried kicking at her assailants, but the men holding her back were far too strong to be deterred by her comparatively feeble legs.

One of the goons pinned Maribel to the ground and forcibly pried her legs open.

”S-somebody! Help!” Maribel struggled to beat back her assaulters, to no avail.

”I wish this was the worst of it,” Yukari mourned. “But of course… it’s not.”

Maribel screamed as one of the goons unzipped their pants and pulled at her undergarments. “Help! Somebody!” Maribel braced herself for the worst.

Promptly, one of her goons let out a yell as warm fluids sprayed over Maribel’s face. Surprisingly, the scent of iron reeked from the fluid as more goons started yelling.

Maribel opened one of her eyes cautiously, and what she saw horrified her. Hiro stood over a pile of Maribel’s would-be rapists, with the once clear creek now a deep scarlet. Hiro’s eyes were dilated, and Maribel finally saw exactly what Hiro had been afraid of for their entire relationship. Sveena looked on, just as horrified.

”Merry… you’re safe now.” Hiro smiled at Maribel with mad eyes, his unstable smile quivering. “I killed them all for you. Like I said, if anything gets between you and me, I’ll do something to them.”

“H-Hiro….” Maribel looked at the corpses and then at Hiro. “What….”

”Merry….” Hiro put a bloodied hand over her shoulder. “They can’t hurt you anymore. It’s just me now. I’m the only thing you should be concerned about. They don’t matter, Merry. So why aren’t you smiling?”

Maribel tried to brush off Hiro’s hand. “Y-you’re right when you say I should concern over you,” she stammered, even though she knew it wasn’t the brightest thing to say.

”I don’t want to see you frown, Merry.” Hiro held up Huanta knife. “Is there something making you unhappy?”

”… N-no….”

”You’re scared of me, aren’t you?” Hiro shook his head. “Even though I did this- I did everything- for you, you’re afraid.”

Maribel swallowed. “Of course I love you! If I didn’t, then what was yesterday all abo-“

”If you love me, you wouldn’t be afraid….” Hiro looked down at husbands knife. “… But I can make you unafraid.”

Maribel watched enough anime to know exactly what was happening. Immediately, she turned the other way, screaming at the top of her lungs. “Help! Please! Somebody!”

Several onlookers saw Maribel fleeing, turn to see Hiro, and would immediately start running themselves. A few individuals retrieved their phones and immediately called the police. Maribel, meanwhile, continued to run until her legs ultimately gave out. But as with all other yandere, Hiro was able to keep his pace, even despite continuous exertion.

”I love you Merry,” Hiro muttered. “But I need for you to love me back.”

”I already told you, I do!” Maribel yelled at Hiro in between sobs. “But not when you have a knife in your hand! And especially not when you’re like… this!”

“I’m afraid that won’t do.” Hiro pulled Maribel in and kissed her as he drew the knife back. “I promise it won’t hurt.”

”No!” Maribel struggled in Hiro’s grasp.

Yet before Hiro could plunge the knife in, gun shots rang out as Hiro yelled, collapsing to his knees.

”Hands in the air!”

Law enforcement had arrived. Police men hoisted Hiro up as they cuffed his arms behind husband back.

”Are you okay, ma’am?” A policeman ushered Maribel into the back of another car.

Trembling, Maribel stepped into the car as the yells of Hiro rang out from the car adjacent to hers.

The scene shifted once more, returning to Maribel’s own room. Shocked over the incident with Hiro, Maribel shakily glanced at her wedding ring. She stared at the gold trinket as she evaluated the events that just occurred.

Hiro had tried to kill her. She still loved him, but also assumed he was keeping up with his medication. She didn’t love Hiro- only he drugged facade of him.

She hastily threw the ring across the room, where it landed in the corner with a clatter.

”... Why....” Maribel sniffled in contemplation. “... Why,,,,”

And this was when something occurred to Maribel. As some mental illnesses could be genetic, was Hiro’s? And if so, then....

Maribel immediately pulled the laptop cover open as she looked up Hiro’s family. Why hadn’t it occurred to her to check Hiro’s family history before?

It didn’t take long for Maribel to come across a medical document, describing numerous genetic disorders the family carried. And, of course, insanity was listed as one of them. Even more worrisome was its status as a dominant gene.

Maribel looked down at her stomach. Surely, there was a chance that the child was recessive, right? Hiro could have been heterozygous, and surely there was a one half chance Merry would have a baby who was in perfect health, right? There was a chance! There always was a chance!

In her panic, Maribel drifted into an almost day-dream. As this was Yukari’s perspective on Maribel’s story, the boundary yōkai allowed Sveena to see the inner machinations of the young girl’s mind.

The three (well, one at the time. Yukari and Sveena were merely observers) found themselves in the middle of a mental hospital, peering into the solitary confinement rooms. In one room, a much more older Hiro sat in silence as he stared blankly at the wall. In the other came the shrieks of what sounded like children.

”LET ME OUT,” the child screamed. “LET ME OUT OR I’LL KILL YOU!” Their hateful violet eyes glared out of the door, staring down any doctor or security guard they saw. And on the nameplate outside the room? Maribel’s own name, as she was assigned to look over her own insane children.

Maribel gasped as she returned to reality. It was already hard enough on her that Hiro snapped before their marriage. Who knows when the next time she’d be able to see him? It would probably be behind bars, or out a window of a mental hospital.

But the thought of her own children suffering the same fate? “Help me....” Maribel sobbed as she buried her hands in her face. At the same time, she knew what she had to do.

The scene changed into that of the hospital, again. Maribel lay on a hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"You can only do this once, as I'm sure you know." As the procedure was not unusual, the hospital appointed a robot to deal with Maribel rather than a doctor. The medical robot's bubbly GUI and sleek design did little to hide the true nature of this particular machine's sinister job, what with a number of sharp blades and other tools dangling off of the machine's numerous arms.

Maribel hit the accept button on the robot's touch screen, which prompted a secondary warning. "Once started, this procedure will not be reversed or halted. Are you ABSOLUTELY sure about continuing with the procedure?"

Maribel hesitated this time. Something told her there was always some hope. None of this was necessary. Sure, the first few years would be rough, but they'd have to let Hiro see her again sometime soon, right? He was clearly capable of restraining himself, as he'd done for so long. Then she and Hiro could live out the rest of their lives as one big, happy family.

"There's still a chance," Maribel thought to herself. "There's a slim chance, but it's always a possibiltiy! Everything has a solution! It doesn't have to be this way!"

... But that was exactly what Maribel told herself during Renko's cancer. Look how well that ended.

Maribel hit the accept button, and the machine whirred to life.

"Please, remain calm and do not fidget around too much," the automated voice instructed. "You will be put to sleep soon, and the robot can perform the abortion process."

Once more, the scene shifted as Yukari put a hand over her own stomach, as though still feeling around for the child that never was.

Sveena glanced at the action, then to where the scene once was. She looked to and fro a few times. While she didn't know what an 'abortion process' was, the hints started coming together. "... No..." She murmured, slowly shaking her head.

"... And that's not even the end of it." Yukari choked as the two now overlooked Maribel curled up in bed yet again, but this time with no Hiro to comfort her. It was obvious that an emotional toll had been taken on her after all the events, with her skin pale and her body thin, indicating malnutrition. And the entire time, Maribel did nothing but weap.

A knock came from the door. Too broken to move, Maribel merely turned her head silently to the door, her dull eyes staring blankly, as though her room could somehow magically bring back Renko, cure Hiro's insanity, and undo her... decision.

The gentle knocks became furious pounds. "This is law enforcement," a police called out from the outside. "Open the door."

Lifelessly, Maribel trudged to the front door and barely opened it, leaving just enough space for the officer to see an eye.

"... Maribel Hearn?" Maribel nodded. The officer slipped a small data chip into Maribel's hand. "From the court. The convicted wanted you to have this as part of his last wishes."

Maribel looked as though she had been hit by lightning. "Wait, what?"

"Several weeks ago, a man by the name Hiro Aiyato was convicted for homicide and attempted murder. He pleaded guilty and was given a death sentence. He asked us to send you this video before his execution."

There was an almost audible shattering sound as the news settled in. "... You... can't be serious...."

"I'd be careful about that," the officer warned. "You never know what these psychos-"

"Don't call him that!" Maribel slammed the door in the officer's face as she began to process what was told to her. It took only a moment or so before Maribel felt a pit opening up inside her stomach, deciding not to dwell on the information.

One step at a time. She downloaded the video chip into her computer. When the clip opened up, Hiro looked nothing like he had during the day of his proposal, appearing almost like a ghost. The shadows under his eyes made him look almost like Sveena due to how pronounced they were. His limbs were bone thin, and his hair was an absolute mess. Maribel also noticed the scars across Hiro's forearms. No doubt a result of self mutilation.

"Is it on?" A guard in the background responded something too faint to make out. Hiro tried to smile into the camera. "... Hi Merry. I'm... glad I have a chance to talk to you again... at least, for the last time." The skeleton that was Hiro sniffled. "... I... I just want to say I'm sorry, really. Sorry for... everything. Coming into your life. Being your boyfriend. It'll... It'll sound cliche, but...." Hiro swallowed. "... I... I can't imagine how much pain you're in. As in, I actually can't. You... probably can guess that I'm not... 'capable of it.'" Even through his disheveled visage, Maribel could see the hints of the violent monster that Hiro kept buried away.

"... You probably hate me," Hiro continued through a choked voice, "but... that's fine. I know I wouldn't love me either if I was... capable of it. I should have... walked away when I saw you, but... I'm sorry." Whatever happened to him in detainment, trying to say this was probably more painful for the poor boy. "... I... I coudn't keep myself away from you. You were... everything to me. I... you deserved better, and for that, I'm sorry."

A muffled "thirty seconds" came from the background. "... I... want to tell you so much more," Hiro concluded, swallowing. "... I hope you can forgive me for... coming at you like that. But if you don't, that's... okay."

The guard announced the five second mark. "... I love you, Maribel."

The video ended. At this point, Maribel's hand was over her mouth as her eyes became red. "... Hiro...." Maribel stammered through a covered mouth.

Even though he had his issues, Hiro still loved Maribel. He really did give everything he had to make her happy. And how had she thanked him? She killed his children, that's how.

And, come to think of it, Hiro did do a good job staying on his medications before they became a couple, right? She could hardly tell there was anything wrong with him at all. In fact, it was only once they'd gotten together that Hiro began to slip....

Of course. Hiro spent so much time and energy devoting himself to Maribel's happiness he neglected his own health, including his medicines. All he could think of was making Maribel happy.

She'd gotten hit by the train, which pulled Eirin's resources away from Renko and into her. She'd demanded love from Hiro, which made him negelect his medicines. And now, out of paranoia for her own sanity, she aborted her unborn children.

"Renko, Hiro, my own child." Yukari stared at her past self in disgust. "One way or another, I killed all of them. And nobody's to blame but myself."

Yukari seemed to voice Maribel's thoughts as well, as Maribel broke into a sobbing mess on the ground beneath. Maribel sat in the corner, bawling for a good five minutes before she calmed down to a mere sniffle. She pulled herself off the ground, suddenly with a sense of determination in her eyes.

"... At least I did one good thing during my time like this," Yukari murmured.

Maribel phased through Yukari and Sveena, heading for the kitchen. Almost as though with a sense of purpose, Maribel promptly headed for the knife drawer, pulling out a serrated blade meant for cutting meats. Her hands trembling, Maribel pointed the blade towards her chest.

The scenery faded to black, as Yukari and Sveena found themselves back in Yukari's own dimension.

"In the end," Yukari croaked, "I comitted two of the greatest sins imaginable: murder and suicide. When I awoke, I was reborn as a youkai, cursed to retain the memories of my past life, with no hope for redemption or reincarnation. For me, there is nothing but oblivion, although I can't say I'd disagree with my punishment."

Sveena wanted to start off by insisting that none of what happened was Maribel's fault, but realized that she would have blamed herself as well if she were in Hearn's shoes. Of course, that didn't mean she put any blame on Yukari for what happened, but she figured she would be called out on that. "I disagree with it," Sveena stated as she wiped a few tears from her eyes. Her expression conveyed both sadness for what happened, and anger at the unfairness of it all.

"After all of that... Your friends... That.. weird voice... And.. Being alive for so long thinking you'll never be happy.. Thinking you don't deserve to be happy..." Sveena muttered, "... It... Makes sense why you... Don't want me to help you, that you think it'd be pointless."

"No." Yukari finally seemed to open herself up to the goddess of the Warp. "It's not just that. You... only know half the story."

"I'll listen if... You want to tell me," Sveena offered.

"It... I'm already too hurt to continue."

"It's okay," Sveena nodded slowly, spreading out her arms and offering a hug. She learned by now to not just ensnare someone without giving them a chance to take the hug.

Once more, Yukari regarded Sveena with apprehension, but at least she wasn't yelling or throwing things anymore. "... I don't want one." Yukari took off the ring Hiro gave her so long ago and twirled it between her fingers.

"If you don't want to be friends with.. Him," Sveena started, referring to the man Hiro's soul reincarnated into, "That's okay. But... I want you to have something- someone that... You can care about."

"Thank you," Sveena smiled sadly, figuring out what Yukari was going to say based on her own feelings, "And I know it's hard... I.. It's hard to forgive myself for things I've done too. But my friends told me I have to at least try, and you should too."

"Okay... Alright... Just.. Until then... Please try to forgive yourself. I don't know if you'll be able to, but.. Try.. And don't listen to whoever that was that told you it was your fault... I'll see you later," Sveena gulped before vanishing in a subdued flash of green.

=====================================================================

Patchouli Knowedge

"It's twilight," the great mage noted as she gave a glance outside one of the few windows of the great, dusty Scarlet Devil mansion. "Fitting for the occasion, I suppose."

Patchouli turned away from the windows, back into the shadows of her library that she had come to love. The secrecy and privacy she had from the rest of the prying, unintelligent world yonder. The naive fool she was, Patchouli noted that the brat Remilia ought to be given some credit after the return of the Youkai God. After all, in her impulsiveness, it was her who had wanted to construct such a large and mysterious library- Patchouli wasn't the one to blame for the secret trapdoor beneath her main desk. For the texts detailing the great evil God that were bought at an auction for "antiquity."

"I grow impatient. Where is the great Youkai God?!" The Saigyou Ayakashi quivered anxiously inside of Yuyuko's posessed spirit. "It's been eons since the last time I blossomed! Since the last time foolish mortals would give their lives to me!"

"Soon," Patchouli assured. "The hag Yukari grows weak, which inversely makes the Youkai God strong. I guarantee that as soon as Yakumo is returned to her helpless state, it will be us who will reign supreme."

"I don't want to be kept waiting." Alice emerged from the forest of bookshelves. "I've waited for this day long enough. Can't you make that Warp God do her thing faster or something?!"

"No," Patchouli affirmed with a sigh. ".... At least, not yet. But rest assured, we are ready. It's only a matter of time for us before we become the Gods that others only dreamt of. Before the omniverse belongs once more to the youkai, as it always should have. Just a little bit more patience from you, and we'll see the light-rather- the dark at the end of the tunnel."

=====================================================================

"... How pathetic I look."

Yukari let the scissors fall as she studied her handiwork in the mirror. Around her feet was a carpet of her golden hair, cut almost unevenly, try to any Do-it-yourself fashion. Yukari studied her visage in the mirror, as though she were looking at some sort of alien creature. It had been such a long time since she had her last cut to this length, to the point where Yukari almost couldn't recognize herself.

"... So... this was Maribel Hearn...."

Of course, the look was far from genuine. No longer was she able to fit into her old clothes from the past, having hit a growth spurt since she last put them on. Only barely did she managed to button herself up, and even then wasn't able to do anything about her-

"It doesn't matter." She stared back at the thing in the mirror for a good long while.

"... What am I even doing?" Disgusted with the face that ruined her own life, she cast aside the old uniform, which still bore the giant gash from where she stabbed herself, still stained in the blood from centuries ago. Yukari began strapping her bra back on before a thought crossed her mind.

Say that, despite being completely erased, Sveena had managed to return Hiro, somehow. Say that she could avert the Usami family curse by some method. What about her? Would they still love her as Maribel, or was she so warped by her existence as a youkai that they'd have to bring back Maribel somehow as well? Even so, could she be loved again? And what about her child? It's pretty hard trying to fix something that was never born. And then there was the concern of her troublesome minions. Patchouli, Yuyuko, Koishi, Alice, all of them. What would be done about them?

"... Why do I even bother going along with this?" The boundary youkai fell backwards onto her old bed, gazing up at the endless void of eyes above her. The endless void of YAMI.

=================================================================

"... And then after that, I left," Sveena finished explaining to Shigoku, detailing how things went down after she left him to follow Yukari. She let out a heavy sigh, "I wish I knew what to do or... How to say stuff better- have... Better words to say what I'm... Trying to say."

"Indeed...." The scientist kicked away a loose bolt back towrads the pile of scrap metal. "I have... some ideas to help with that, but I wouldn't think any of them to be feasible at our given situation. Not like they'd matter anyway- I don't think this is the kind of situation that would be ammended through increased vocabulary. I'll need more data if you want me to suggest something intelligent. What else can you tell me?"

"Uhm... Like what?" Sveena asked, unsure of what the doctor wanted to know.

"Your problem is that you want to help this.... woman, correct?"

"Mhm," Sveena hummed seriously, nodding her head.

"Then I'll need more to work off of if you want a solution." Shigoku racked his mind to think of something. "Just tell me anything you haven't already. It can be about her past, her behavior, I don't care. I just require it to be something new, and something true. I'll work off that to help think of a solution."

"Uhhh... Oh! Well there's this," Sveena poofed her phone into existence and fumbled with it for a moment before passing it to Shigoku, showing him the series of messages she recieved concerning Yukari's backstory, "Someone sent me all of this awhile ago. It's how I found about you- Uhm- Hiro."

Shigoku scrolled through the string of replies, examining each one with an almost inhuman level of information absorption. Fitting, as he made robots for a career, but still....

"Bingo." He read through the lines that detailed Maribel's old friend Renko. "This could be a useful starting point." Shigoku flipped the phone back around to show Sveena. "If you're able to find this person like you found me, that would be great."

"So like, the reincarnated Renko?" Sveena asked, taking her phone back and staring down at the screen for a brief moment.

"Yes, exactly. Just as you had with me."

"Okay, that should be easy," Sveena nodded, "I'll just have to ask Tzeentch - He's a friend, another god- and I'll be able to find her."

"I'm not dumb!" Sveena scoffed, "I'm gonna check and make sure that it's actually Renko, but it'd be mean to just turn down someone's help!"

"Well, just... don't do anything that'll get you killed. I don't want to be questioned for a missing person's report. And especially when I don't know anything about what's going on, with all these ghosts and spirits and monsters and stuff.... Why couldn't it just be killer robots? At least I'd know what's going on...."

"Uhhh... Oh! If I die, just yell 'Slaanesh' a bunch of times! She's the god of sex and stuff, she's a good friend. Okay, bye!" Sveena waved before vanishing in her typical flash of green.

As she popped into existence, Sveena was promptly face-to-face with a man garbed completely in metallic armor. His mask obscured his face, and he was armed with a rather old assault rifle. Of course, his most unmistakable feature was the armband over his bicep.

"What the fu...?" The Nazi soldier turned to face Sveena. "Who the hell are you? How'd you get here?! Are you a terrorist?!" He pointed the gun at Sveena.

All too used to having guns waved in her face, the firearm did little to intimidate her. "My name's Sveena, I teleported here, aaaand... I don't know what a terrorist is," She answered as she looked the man up and down, pondering whether or not this man could have reincarnated from Renko. She expected... Well, a girl, but she supposed that's just how reincarnation worked.

Suspicious, the Nazi steadied his rifle. "... I have not idea what to do with you," he began, "... so I suppose the Uberkommando will figure out what to do with you! Now, hands in the air where I can see them!"

"Why?" Sveena asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Because you could be a terrorist! Or a queer! Or... fuck, I don't even know anymore. Anyway, just do as I say and I won't sho-"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The Nazi soldier was immediately tackled to the ground as Marisa pinned the enemy soldier to the floor. "You! Tell that big robot behind us to stop shooting, or I'll shoot!"

"... What?!"

"What's going on!?" Sveena yelped.

"Who-" Marisa cocked her head up. "Oh, hello there, ms.... prostitute woman? Doesn't matter- I called one of their moms gay and now there's this big ass robot that's shooting at me! I sent someone to distract it, but I need to turn it off! Help me or I'll call your mom gay, too!"

"Why did they get mad about tha- What does gay mean!? I don't even know who my mom is!"

"I don't get this generation either," the Nazi soldier agreed.

"You shut up!" Marisa punched the Nazi in the back of the head. "And you! Can you turn off a robot?"

"Um- Yeah?" Sveena nodded, terribly confused.

"Great!" Marisa pointed behind the way she came. "Now turn off the first big metal thing you see back there, okay? You'll know which one it is because it's shooting the red shit everywhere, 'kay?"

"A Zerstorer!" The Nazi, still pinned to the ground, exclaimed. "I thought those were still experimental!"

"Well, clearly they aren't. Oh wait, I forgot. SHUT UP!"

"Okay! I'll turn it off- Just, uh.. No more punching him!" Sveena requested as she hurried off in the direction Marisa pointed to, keeping her eyes peeled for 'big metal thing's and 'red shit' being shot everywhere.

"Marriiiiiissaaaaaaa!" Renko cried as she ran into view of Sveena, albeit with Renko's back facing the warp goddess. "I'llllllll kiiiiilll you for thiiiiis!"

Behind her came a huge burst of argent plasma, incinerating whatever got in its way. Promptly, the ground began to tremble as the footsteps for something heavy began to approach.

Sveena quickly teleported Renko nearby Marisa. While she didn't know that the 'Marriiiisaaaaa' was the one who directed her to find a robot, she guessed Renko was safer there than here. With that, Sveena turned to see what monstrosity could be the cause of such destruction and the shaking of the ground.

Sveena found herself being stared down by a large black robot, which gazed soullesly at her with its single red sensor. Branded all over its heavy armor were symbols of the reich, and at the ends of both of its arms were a pair of very unusual guns, which looked almost DIY in nature. This was one of the latest designs to come from the now-abandoned General Deathshead's labs: the heavy Zerstorer robot. The robot regarded Sveena for a few seconds, as this new woman did not appear within its database of known terrorists.

"Uh, hello! My name's Sveena!" The Enclavian greeted cheerfully, though was unsure if this thing was even sentient or not, "What's yours?"

Promptly, the Zerstorer's single red eye flashed as it snapped a picture of Sveena to send through to the Nazi database. Several seconds passed as Sveena was categorized, with the updated database being sent back to the Zerstorer. Promptly, the Zerstorer registered Sveena as a threat, and charged its pair of ubergewehrs, with the ominous red glow of argent plasma eminating from the robot's guns.

Sveena quickly glanced between the eye and the growing glowing of the machine's weapons. "Uhh.. Are you alive? Can you talk?" She nervously asked. If this thing did have some semblence of sentience, she couldn't just 'turn it off' or cripple it, but how exactly would she be able to tell? If it could talk, those could just be lines spat out by a radio. If it couldn't talk, it could easily just be a mute machine, but still 'alive'.

The Zerstorer finally finished charging its ubergewehrs and opened fire on Sveena, unleashing dual orbs of the eldritch argent plasma at the warp goddess. Blindly, it continued to shoot at Sveena, even though several energy balls had engulfed her.

Sveena let out a scream of pain before teleporting away from the spot she previously stood, only about twenty feet away. Being a god of the Warp, the attack did very little to actually damage Sveena, but it still hurt. The remainder of the robot's attack was teleported in mid-air to a vacant universe Sveena passed through before, where she was confident nobody would be harmed by the balls of energy.

The robot waited for the dust to settle before continuing with its next lines of command. Seeing that Sveena had been seemingly obliterated, the Zerstorer turned away from the empty crater to continue patrolling.

"Hey! Hello?" Sveena waved her arms, "I'm over here!" From anyone else, that would have been an obvious taunt, though Sveena only intended to correct the robot's path.

The Zerstorer, hearing Sveena's cries, turned itself one-eighty degrees to face the "enemy to the reich." Promptly, the rockets on its back flared up as the robot boosted forwards, barrelling towards Sveena with its bulk.

Sveena let out a shrill cry before teleporting out of the robot's way, reappearing behind it shortly after. "Why are you trying to kill me!?" She demanded. The Warp god was starting to get the idea this robot was less alive than most she had met up to that point.

The Zerstorer didn't respond as it whirled to face Sveena once more, swatting at the Warp God with one of its heavy Ubergewehr guns.

With an angry huff, the entire arm was teleported right off of the killing machine's body, laying on the ground nearby. "This is your last chance!" Sveena warned.

The Zerstorer raised its other arm to bring down on Sveena, yet before it could swing down, a beam of energy blew the remaining arm clean off of the machine's body.

"Get away!" It was the voice that had whispered to Sveena moments before. "Now!"

"Wait, what!? Why!?" Sveena called back, more concerned with if the machine that was trying to kill her was okay.

Without giving her a moment to think, Sveena was hoisted into the air as a surge of wind blew past her. From above, Sveena was allowed to watch the spectacle of the Zerstorer's death. In an almost uncannily human-like manner, glowing fluids flowed from its seams in a viscous, syrup-like mess, before the machine exploded where it stood, leaving behind nothing but a sparking pair of legs and shrapnel.

"Sorry I'm late," the voice apologized as it glided Sveena gently to the ground. "Got caught up with its little twin a little ways back."

"Oh my gosh! Please tell me it wasn't alive!" Sveena gasped, finally taking a look at who guided her here in the first place.

"Ha ha ha! Nah, of course they weren't: did nothing but followed a few simple lines of instructions. We call those kinds of machines 'potatoes.'"

Sveena found herself talking to a ghost, evident from the ghostly tail the individual had instead of legs. Garbed in a patchwork mess of a cloak and with a carpet of forest-green hair, the ghost smiled at Sveena in an almost arrogant, mischevious manner, just like that of Marisa Kirisame from earlier.

"Mima Kirisame," the ghost introduced. "Pleasure to make acquaintence with you."

Sveena blinked before smiling back, though a lot more innocent than the expression she recieved. "My name's Sveena," She happily responded, "Are you the.. Person that was talking in my head earlier?"

"Sure was! Simple trick, if you ask me!" The ghost beamed. "We could go on and on about my magnificience, but we've got other things to do." The ghost motioned Sveena to follow as she began making her way back to Marisa and Renko.

Sveena followed close to Mima's side, glancing down at her distinct absence of legs for a moment before asking, "So.. Where's reincarnated Renko?"

"Nowhere," Mima declared. "... Because you've got the real deal!"

Alarmed by the sudden voices, Marisa, Renko, and the pinned Nazi soldier all glanced up.

"MOM?!" Marisa stared at the ghost in shock. "What are you doing?! How did you get here?!"

"Die!? What? Why does she die!? When? Wait- How is she not dead!?" Sveena stammered, "I thought she already died!"

"What do I have to do with this?! Are you going to kill me or what?!" The Nazi soldier squirmed from on the ground.

"Now, now, now," Mima held up her arms. "I'm sure you are all very confused, but I think that our lovely friend miss Yakumo can fill us in!"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeew!" Marisa gagged. "Not that evil saggy hag! Bleugh!"

"Hey!" Sveena whined, "Yukari's actually trying to be a better person now, don't be mean." While the Enclavian had no guarantee that Yukari was actually making an effort to change after their talk, she hoped she had gotten through to the youkai of boundaries.

"Does she still smell of old fish?" Marisa coughed.

"Wh-... No?" Sveena blinked.

".... At anyrate, we don't need to be here anymore." Mima hoisted Marisa off of the poor soldier she had pinned to the ground. "You got what you came for, I got what I came for." Mima turned to Marisa. "I'd say you can say good bye to your friend now."

"... Huh?" Marisa eyed Renko. "... So like, are we not going to see each other after this, or....."

Mima shrugged. "Depends if Yakumo eats her or not."

"How can you say that so casually?!" A disturbed Renko backed away from the ghost of Mima.

"Wh- She- She's not going to eat you, I promise," Sveena swore.

"Oh, that's good." Renko breathed a sigh of relief. "Well... uh... I guess... good bye?" Renko knew she ought to have given Marisa, the one who protected her for some time now, a more proper farewell, but in all seriousness, Renko was somewhat relieved to being done with living like a criminal all the time, picking fights and sleeping on the run.

"You see a big monster that needs a laser, you know who to call." Marisa winked at Renko.

"Are we good? Good. Come on now, Marisa. There's a lot of things I would like to talk with you about." Mima patted Marisa on the shoulder.

"Bye!" Sveena waved to the two before turning to Renko with a smile, extending her hand for a shake, "Hi, Renko! My name's Sveena!" Now that she thought about it, she really needed a new way of introducing herself.

".... So.... do I live?" The Nazi remained on the ground as he asked as politely as he could, out of fear that, somewhere in her scanty outfit, Sveena had some secret gun pointed at his head.

"Oh, here, lemme help you up," Sveena offered, holding a hand down to the man. Renko grabbed Sveena by the wrist.

"You realize what he is, right?" Renko whispered hastily.

"... What?" Sveena asked, looking at the man, then at Renko, then the man again.

"He's... someone who did a lot of bad things. I wouldn't trust him, and not with that gun."

"I heard that! And I'm offended!"

"Well, if he did a lot of bad things, then we should definitely help him up!" Sveena concluded, brushing Renko's hand from her wrist and once more offering the Nazi a helping hand, "A person's only gonna keep doing bad things if nobody gives them a chance to be better!"

"... At least do something about the gun." Renko motioned to the gun on the ground, which the Nazi definitely seemed to eye cautiously.

"Oh, okay," Sveena nodded as the gun vanished into thin air.

”Don’t kill me...”

“Didn’t you say we had to go somewhere?” With the enemy disarmed, Renko turned her focus to the task at hand.

"Oh, right, yeah," Sveena nodded, "Sorry for the trouble... Guy!" With that, she and Renko disappeared back to Shigoku. In their place, Sveena left behind a large can of tuna with a heart drawn on a sticky note.

“Back already, I see.” The doctor finished tidying the mess left behind by Yukari into a neat pile of scrap metal.

"Mhm! Here's Renko!" Sveena exclaimed, gesturing both arms at the girl with a big smile.

“... Hi, sir.” Renko gave Shigoku a confused wave.

”I thought she’d be reincarnated,” the doctor noted. “Seems as though she’s either in the same body, or you’ve got the wrong one.”

”What do you mean ‘wrong one?’ What’s going on in the first place?”

"Hmm... One second, lemme check," Sveena poofed away.

“Well, the fact of the matter is, you’re supposed to be dead You came down with cancer. At least, that’s what they said....”

The doctor proceeded to fill Renko in on her eventual death at the hands of “leukemia,” and how her friend Maribel ultimately blamed herself for her death.

”... What.” Renko sat down to think about what was told to her. “... First of all, how the heck did I get sick? Second, why did Maribel blame herself over it? Obviously, nothing could have been done....”

”I was thinking the same thing,” the doctor agreed. “But the point is, your little friend’s habit of blaming herself has gone out of hand.”

”What do you mean?”

”To put it bluntly, your friend ‘Maribel’ is allegedly some sort of demon that controls space and time... or something like that.”

”Okay, hold up, what the actual heck?! You can tell me I’ll die of cancer, that Merry blames herself, but now you’re saying that she’s some sort of monster? You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, mister!”

”I’m just reciting what I know. This doesn’t make that much sense for me, either. Just bare with it.”

In a flash of green light, Sveena had returned. "Okay! So, Tzeentch said that's the same Renko!" Sveena confirmed.

“Interesting....” The doctor turned back to the girl. “I have no idea what this means, but hopefully, you’ll be able to connect a little bit better than I did.”

”... What’s your connection to Merry, anyway?”

"He's Hiro!" Sveena exclaimed, "Just, uh.. Reincarnated."

“Who’s that?” Of course, Renko was unconcious when Maribel began her relation with Hiro

"Oh, he's her boyfriend, or was her boyfriend," Sveena corrected herself, "Even though he reincarnated, he's still a lot like Hiro was."

“Wait, Merry had a boyfriend?” Renko buried her head into her hand. “This is all so much to absorb, and in just one day....”

“Take your time. She didn’t exactly give me time to absorb it all when I was brought here, so I understand the sentiment. In the mean time, do you think it would be wise to... ‘talk’ with your friend?” Shigoku turned to Sveena as he said the last part.

"Yeah, I'll go tell her I found you and see if she wants to come here," Sveena said to both Shigoku and Renko.

“Vey well. We’ll be waiting for your response. In the mean time, I’ll be explaining to Ms. Usami our, or rather, her current situation.”

"Got it," Sveena nodded, "Oh, and, uh.. Thank you for going along with all this- I just don't remember if I said thanks yet."

“It’s all fine and good. Now, come with me on a walk, Usami.” Shigoku extended a hand. “I have quite the story to tell you... in regards to yourself, strangely enough.”

”Please fill me in. I’m already overwhelmed, so an explaination behind all this would be nice.”

Sveena gave the two a quick wave before teleporting away to Yukari. She couldn't recall a time when she had teleported so many times in such a short span of time.

“What do you want?” Yukari still lay in bed as she stared at the ceiling.

"I fo-... Are you okay?" Sveena asked, approaching Yukari, but maintaining a respectable distance. She learned that Yukari could get pretty uppity about Sveena getting too close for some reason.

“What do you think? Of course I’m not.” Yukari let out a sigh as she tried to remember happier times.

"Oh... Well, I have good news!" Sveena exclaimed, "I found Renko- and she reincarnated as herself.. I think. I mean, she looks the same and has the same name and stuff."

“Let me guess, you want me to meet her, don’t you?”

"... Yes?" Sveena answered after a moment of trying to think of a different, more eloquent response, "Um, I think it'll go a lot better!"

”... Fine.” Yukari pushed herself off of the mattress. “Just give me a moment to get dressed."

"Okay!" Sveena nodded, smiling obliviously as she stood in one spot. It did not occur to her that Yukari would probably want privacy while getting clothed. That whole region of concepts was still uncharted waters for the Enclavian.

Luckily for Sveena (but mostly Yukari's lungs), the boundary youkai had her own means to receive privacy. Yukari pulled a blanket over her as a gap surrounded her, flying past her body as though it were being pulled up over her, like a sack or a bag. Once the gap disappeared, Yukari was back in her usual white attire.

"You look great!" Sveena complimented with two thumbs up.

"Just tell me where to go."

"It's the same place as before- Oh, can I go through your... Hole.. Thingy too?" Sveena asked, trying to sign one of Yukari's iconic gaps with her hands, "It's just been a long time since I got to."

"... Fine." Behind both Sveena and Yukari's feet, a pair of ribbons materialized. Immediately, Sveena and Yukari both fell through the gap, and onto the pavement of the abandoned Kyoto university.

Sveena let out a yelp as they fell, having expecting the gap to be one of the walking-through variety. Before she could fall completely flat on her face, Sveena disappeared and reappeared a few times in multiple flashes of green light and different angles until she was upright. She quickly patted herself down to make sure she was all there before giving a big smile of confirmation to Yukari that she was okay.

"... And that's about as far as I-WOAH!" Both Shigoku and Renko stumbled back as the two deities materialized before them. "Give us a warning next time, geez!"

"Oh, sorry!" Sveena quickly apologized before introducing Renko to Yukari, "Renko, this is Yukari! Which is.. Just Maribel but older now! She changed her name or something!"

"... Older indeed." Renko stared Yukari up and down. "When did you get so... big?"

Yukari didn't need her ability to manipulate boundaries to see how huge the jump that seperated the two was. Renko was an woman in her early twenties, still in college, and destined to die at a young age. Yukari was a several thousand year old demon born from Maribel's sadness and suicide. And they were expected to be friends?

"... This isn't going to work out." Yukari turned away from her former friend, as though about to walk away.

"At least give it a chance." Renko grabbed Yukari by the sleeve. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and maybe- just maybe- things will go alright for y-"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Yukari threw Renko to the ground, causing the smaller Renko to cry out. Instantly, Yukari regretted this decision. "Oh my gosh, are you ok- wait...." Yukari, out of instinct, almost reached out to help Renko up.

"... Not even helping your old friend up." Renko grunted as she pulled herself to her knees. "What... happened to you?"

"Maribel died. This is all that's left."

"... Okay then..." Renko staggered onto her feet. "... Be that way. Hi! I'm Renko Usami! What's your name?" If Yukari was this insistent on keeping Maribel dead, then perhaps it would be better to just start from the beginning.

"Oh, come on, Mer-Ms. Yakumo. That's not accomplishing anything." Renko ran to Yukari's side, grabbing her by the wrist to make sure she wouldn't go anywhere. Even though Renko knew that Yukari could have easily teleported herself out of the situation, she didn't care. Somewhere inside of Yukari was Maribel, and she needed help. "... What's your relationship stat- Errr... what's your favorite food?" Renko almost asked Yukari about her ring before remembering what caused Maribel to die.

"Most kinds of meats," the youkai answered. "Chicken, pork, beef, I've eaten just about all of them. But frankly, nothing has taste anymore."

"Oh. That's quite unfortunate."

"What are we even doing? Stop asking questions you already know the answer to."

"Answers to what? I hardly know you. That's what you said, right?"

"That's not what I said!" Yukari jerked her wrist away from Renko. But even with all her superhuman strength, Renko's grip somehow overpowered Yukari's.

"That's basically what you said. And unless you're going back on that whole 'waaaaaa I'm dead' thing, I'm just going to get to know you as a person. From the very beginning."

Yukari groaned in disgust. "... Fine. Have it your way."

"When's your birthday?" Only after asking did Renko realize what a complex question that suddenly was. Would Yukari's birthday be the date when her past self was born, or when she died? Or was it both? Did youkai have birthdays? "... Um... what would you consider your birthday to be?"

"I don't deserve o-"

Renko cut off Yukari's statement, announcing Maribel's birthday.

"That's not for you to decide!"

"It is if you're going to keep saying edgy things like that. Stop it. I don't want to hear it. Are you or are you not a gigantic weeaboo?"

"Wh-"

"Yes you are. Moving on-"

"Hey! Cut it out!"

"You know it's true. That statement is completely, 100% objective."

"No it's not! I'm not a-"

"You bring your little cartoons to class all day. I see them stick out of your backpack pocket! You are a weeaboo!"

"... Was it that noticable? Wait-NO I DID NOT!"

"You totally do!" It was beginning to feel less like Renko was talking to a thousand-something year old monster and more like one of her old conversations with Maribel. A good sign. "Did you or did you not spend the entire day looking through accounts of 'cute guys?'"

"You little-" Yukari raised a fist over her head.

"I'd rather she hit me rather than talk about how miserable she is." Renko braced herself as the boundary youkai bopped her on the forehead. "What's your major?"

"Psychology. Wait-"

"Cool. Very nice. You want to eat dinner with me?"

"Slow down with the questions!"

"Um... no. Anyways, you're coming with me for dinner. I know this sushi place my old friend used to like a lot." Renko burst into a run, dragging Yukari behind her.

"You're taking me there? Is it even open? Wai-Where are you going?!"

"To get the others!" Renko hoped this would work.

=================================================================

"... And then I found out it was called tuna!" Sveena finished her riveting tale.

"Tuna, huh." The scientist fumbled with abandoned monitors and scraps of metal, as though figuring out how to make a robot out of them. "Couldn't eat it where I came from- they died out from overfishing."

Sveena let out a loud gasp. "Don't worry!" She exclaimed as a can of tuna poofed into existence right infront of his face, "Oh, and no fishes died for this tuna! It was made from.. Nothing."

"Sorry, I only take food grown in my own lab. Thanks for the offer, though." Shigoku gently threaded a small metal wire through the miniscule robot arm he made. (Of course, it wasn't functional. But at least it gave him a sanctuary from boredom.)

"I wonder how it's going with them," Sveena mused before suddenly asking out of curiosity, "Have you ever done sex?"

"Hmm? No." The doctor set the small robot arm aside as he began to assemble another one. "I was far too preoccupied most of my life to care. Not that I could even if I wanted to. You won't find too many women who find plastic attractive... or me in general."

"... I think you're attractive," Sveena complimented after a moment of thought.

Shigoku chuckled. "That's just my face you're seeing," he replied. "Not too many people would find the rest of me all that... appealing. Hell, I've even been called a monster by some people."

"What? Why?" Sveena inquired, concerned and curious.

In response, Shigoku pulled off one of his two gloves, revealing a fake mechanical one instead. At the least, the carbon fibre casing over most of the prosthetic limb granted it a rather human-like appearance. "Life extention technology was in its infancy when I almost kicked the bucket," the doctor stated. "My head and internal organs were the only thing they could salvage after the operation. Luckily for me, that's all I really need anyway."

"Oh! So you're like a..." Sveena trailed off as a dictionary poofed into existence, hovering in front of her for a few seconds. "... Cyborg!" She exclaimed as the dictionary vanished.

"You can say that." The doctor slipped the glove back over his hand. "Really, call me a robot, cyborg, human, monster, I honestly don't care. I've heard them all."

"Why did people call you a monster though?"

"People just don't agree with my decision," he replied. "I've moved my functioning parts into this robotic body to avoid dying. In essence, I've cheated death. And not everyone's fond of that." The doctor shrugged.

"Oh... Well, I'm glad you're alive," Sveena smiled.

"Hey! Hey!" Renko called to the two as she came running to meet them. "Can you take us to this sushi place Merry and I used to go to?"

"Can you not?" Yukari was still being dragged behind Renko, trying to resist the energetic girl's pull.

"Look! They're holding hands!" Sveena gasped happily.

"Which 'sushi place?' Weren't there hundreds before they all-"

"The one by the Old Adam's bar," Renko answered. "The one that's close by."

"The one here is probably closed by now, so...." Shigoku turned to Sveena. "... can you do your thing?"

"That's okay! There's infinite universes! Infinite Old Adam's bars!" Sveena proclaimed, teleporting the quartet to the sushi place in question within a less derelict variant of the universe they previously inhabited.

"Why are we here?" Yukari complaied at the sight and smells of a restaurant that she once loved, again reminded by the crimes of her past life.

"If you hate this so much, why would you complain about it? You're more than capable of leaving it." The doctor noted Yukari's ability to gap to wherever she wanted.

"... Let's just get this over with."

"What is sushi?" Sveena asked.

"It's... you'll see." Renko reserved seats for the four of them. Conveniently, four chairs just happened to be avaliable at the moment, and the quartet were led to their open spots. Immediately, Yukari went for the one at the end.

"Um... No." Renko pointed at one of the two chairs in the center. "You'll be sitting over there. No anti-social time for you today, Ms. Yakumo! Not today, nor for another 1000 years."

"And why should I listen to you?"

"Because I like Maribel better." Renko claimed one of the chairs at the end of their designated row. "You. Sit over there." Renko pointed first at Sveena, then at the chair at the other end of the now three empty seats.

"Okay!" Sveena happily agreed, plopping her rear down onto the seat and taking in the sights and smells of the restaurant from her chair.

"You. Over there." Renko pointed at Shigoku, and then to the chair next to Sveena. "... Which means you have to sit right here." Renko patted the chair beside her, looking at Yukari.

"Well, of course I did! You don't want to stay angry and evil forever, do you?"

Yukari said nothing.

"... Well anyway, what's this I see?" Renko pulled off a plate off the the conveyor belt. "It's snow crab! Mmmmmm! Eat up!"

"Oh, we can just take these?" Sveena asked, pointing at the plates.

"That's the tradition," Shigoku confirmed as he watched the plates slide past him.

"What's a tradition?" Sveena inquired, curiously grabbing a plate at random. She held the plate in one hand and, with her free hand, grabbed the tuna belly sushi and took a bite. In addition to her lack of knowledge on tradition, Sveena had no idea that sushi was not a finger food.

"... Die." Yukari turned her head away from the coneyor belt of food.

"We all know your weakness is food. Come on, take one!" Renko pulled another sushi plate off the belt, this one with a slide of salmon on it.

Yukari remained adamant in her decision to fast, but her eye unmistakably darted to and from the conveyor belt of dishes.

"Go on....." At this point, Renko stopped paying attention to what was going by and merely began stacking plates on top of one another.

"Alright, fine." Yukari reached for her set of chopsticks and began plucking rolls off of the plate and into her mouth.

"That's the spirit! Eat enough, and I'm sure you'll go back to smiling!"

"What makes you think that?"

"Because food always put you in a good mood. My bank account can tell you that!"

Yukari grunted in annoyance as she continued to eat sushi after sushi, having already cleaned three plates.

"... Am I supposed to use those sticks to eat this?" Sveena asked after carefully observing how Yukari ate her sushi.

"Yes. You don't really eat sushi with your fingers. Give it a try." Shigoku gestured to the chopsticks beside Sveena.

The Enclavian took the two metal sticks, glancing over to Yukari repeatedly as she tried to figure out how to hold them and pick up her sushi. "How do you..." She let out a few frustrated puffs as she dropped her sushi back onto its plate over and over.

"Here, just...." Shigoku slid a hand under the table and pulled off one of his prosthetic hands. Loose wires hung limply out of his forearm as he passed his mechanical arm to Sveena. "Just use this for now. I guarantee you won't be able to learn it tonight; took me a few years to master it."

"Are.. Are you okay?" Sveena asked, slowly taking the hand, "How.. Do I use your hand?"

"Just hold it over the food. I'll do the rest for you." Remotely, the hand gave the Sveena a thumbs-up.

"Excuse me, I need to use the restroom." Renko pulled herself out of her chair and began walking towards the enterance.

"Wait, but isn't the restroom that wa-"

Renko subtly grabbed Yukari's chair by one of its spokes and slid it closer to Shigoku's own before disappearing down the hall. Twenty seconds or so passed before Renko returned, this time sliding Shigoku closer to Yukari.

"Well, don't just sit there, you two. Talk about something already!" Renko began nibbling at her own meals, watching intently to see who, between either the youkai or the scientist, would make the first move.

"... A thousand years, huh? That's quite a long time."

"Plenty of time to loathe yourself," Yukari agreed.

"Don't say that." Shigoku turned himself towards Yukari. "... Anyway, are you enjoying the meal? I don't think they had these kinds of sushi bars.... when did you... um....."

"Feudal Japan didn't have the place for international chain companies, true." Yukari began grabbing plates off the belt, having just cleaned the last of the ones Renko picked out for her.

"Wait, you ate all that? In just five or so minutes?"

"Shut up," Yukari snapped. "I'm not that fat. I do what I can to keep my weight down."

Yukari huffed as she began continued to feast, now shovelling two rolls into her mouth at a time instead of just one. Sveena quickly grabbed another plate from the conveyor belt, seeming to enjoy the act of being fed by Shigoku's detached hand more than the food itself. Renko took note of this.

"... You're not gonna eat that?" Yukari motioned to Shigoku's food.

"Hmm? Oh, no I won't. You can have it if you want."

"Not into eating or something?" Yukari slid the plate over to herself. "Continue doing that, and you'll be a skeleton before you know it."

"Well, it saves on the food bill, you know." Shigoku took another platter off the belt and slid it towards the boundary youkai.

"Your loss." The endless blackhole that was Yukari's stomach continued to wipe sushi off the face of the Earth, devouring sushi now by the three's.

"Don't get carried away," Renko warned. "Maribel once choked herself after trying to swallow seven. Though... I doubt you'll get to six at a time, anyway."

"You want to bet?"

"You win, I'll pay for the dinner. I win, you're sleeping with him tonight."

"Now hold up-"

"I'll do eight pieces at once," Yukari challenged. "If only to blow that smug look right off your face."

Renko giggled as she piled ten plates before the youkai. "Sounds more and more like Merry!"

Yukari's lip trembled as she began opening the plates of sushi, one by one. "Here goes ten at the same time," she announced. "One... two....."

Yukari skewered ten sushis simultaneously with one of her chopsticks. (Miraculous, given that the chopstick should have probably held up to six at maximum). The boundary youkai tipped her head back and lowered the sushi chain into her throat. Once the entire chopstick was in her throat, Yukari slid the feeding utensil out, using her teeth to hold back the sushi as the chopstick slid right between the crack.

"Well, what can I say? I've gotten craftier over the years." Yukari dabbled at the edges of her mouth with her napkin. "Now pay up, Usami."

"Fine," Renko sighed. "But I'll get you next time, H-Yakumo!"

"Maybe in a thousand years, you will," the youkai jeered.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Sveena asked, "I don't need it for food though."

"Learn on your own time. It's not something that you can be taught."

"Oh, okay," Sveena nodded.

"Well, at anyrate, I don't think you'll be happy with just two," Renko argued. "I bet four or so a bite would work."

"And how do you suppose I can do that? I can't be bothered to eat two-handed."

"Well," a smile creeped over Renko's face. "... You can eat two yourself and have the other two be fed to you. Isn't that right, do-where's your other hand?"

"Oh. Um...." Shigoku pulled of the glove that hung limply at the end of his currently handless arm.

"Wait, you're a robot?"

"'Cyborg' would be more accurate, but yes." Shigoku slipped his right glove back on.

"Oh, do you need your hand back?" Sveena asked, holding Shigoku's hand to him, "I'm just gonna stab them and try to do what Yukari did, so here."

The hand magnetized itself back onto Shigoku's hand, snaring the glove in between. "... I'll deal with that later."

"Well, our friend here is hungry, and said she would like to be fed!"

"Wait," Yukari began with a start. "That's not what I said!"

"It's exactly what you said!"

"Quit lying," Yukari snapped before turning her attention to Shigoku. "Whatever Renko says is a lie. Don't trust her word on absolutely anything."

"Now you're lying!"

"Okay, both of you quiet! What do you want, feed or don't feed?!"

Of course, both Renko and Yukari would demand different things.

"... Well, if it isn't broken, don't fix it."

"Awww...." A defeated Renko retreated back into her seat.

"Thank you for being reasonable." Yukari quickly dipped a sushi into the wasabi-sauce mixture. As soon as the commodity touched Yukari's tongue, however, the youkai recoiled and began coughing. "What t-" Yukari spat the sushi out as she lolled her tongue out. "Hot! Hot! Hot! Wh-why is it so hot?!"

"That's what you get for cheating!" Renko snickered as she held up a bottle of hot sauce.

"RENKO YOU-" Yukari began draining her cup of water in attempts to mitigate the burning effects of hot sauce.

"Water's not going to help you very much," Shigoku pointed out. "Have some sushi instead."

"... Right." Yukari began plucking plates off of the conveyor belt and began to cram her face with sushi. Watching Yukari eat was like watching a machine. Even Shigoku had to smile a little at that.

Of course, until she ate the tuna plate that just rolled by. The normally green seaweed wrapping was joined with a small blood-red thing, squirming as it clung onto the dish.

"Wait, Ma'am-"

Without thought, Yukari shoved the tuna sushi into her mouth, and with it, the parasite. Instantly, Yukari dropped her chopsticks and clutched her stomach. "... What kind of hot sauce was that, Renko?!"

"Look!" Sveena quickly tapped the counter before presenting a chopstick with ten mangled sushi squeezed onto it. She tilted her head back and excitedly slid the chopstick down her throat. Halfway to victory, Sveena's eyes opened wide as she gagged, clutching her throat. With all pieces of the sushi being shishkebab'd, enough gagging ejected the sushi stick out of her throat and over the conveyor belt where it smacked an employee's chest. Upon realizing what she had done, Sveena clasped her mouth before squeaking out, "I am so sorry."

The angry waitress was about to come storming over until she too suddenly gagged. Like a bloody noose, a bizaare worm like creature had wrapped itself around the unfortunate woman. The worm like specimen hissed at Sveena, bearing its three fangs at the Warp Goddess.

Yukari's eyes widened at the sight of the parasite. "... Shinki," she croaked. "... Why now?"

"Oh my gosh! What's- Is this normal? Is this part of sushi stuff?" Sveena cried out.

Renko shrieked when she saw the worm, dropping her wallet in the process.

"Do something about it!" Shigoku pointed at the woman, gagging for air as the worm tried to slither its way into her unfortunate mouth. "It's going to do... something! Whatever it is, it's bad!"

Sveena's hands shook for a moment in uncertainty before she teleported the parasite into the void. "Are you okay!?" She gasped.

The traumatized waitress shook her head profusely as she began to cry.

"I'll deal with this," the scientist offered as he approached the waitress. "For now, just try and help your friend move. Can you do that?"

"Y-Yeah, I.. Wait.. Yukari! Are you okay?!" Sveena yelped, teleporting to the youkai's side, "Did one of those things go in your mouth!?"

Yukari, meanwhile, continued to gag as drops of vomit began to force their way up her mouth. For brief periods, her eyes would change from Yukari's glowing purple eyes to Maribel's standard violet/blue eyes to a new set of demonic emerald eyes, as though something were making attempts to possess the boundary youkai.

"What do we do!? What's happening to her eyes!?" Sveena cried out, using both of her hands and one of her feet to help secure Yukari.

"I have no idea," Renko answered with urgency. "But she shouldn't be staying here, that's for sure!"

"Find a place for us to spend the night," Shigoku ordered the two of them. "Especially for me and Usami, seeing as neither of us can teleport. I'll catch up later."

"Okay! Um- Uh- I know a place!" Sveena quickly nodded.

"... And I want you to give me the worm thing when I get there."

"Alright! Just.. Yell my name when you're ready!" With that, Sveena, Yukari, and Renko all vanished in a flash of green. The trio reappeared in a room with very dark, romantic colors. It was a bedroom that seemed to be a mix between an intimate hideout and a sex dungeon. Despite the debaucherous nature of whoever owned this room, everything was very neat and orderly.

"This is my friend's room," Sveena quickly informed.

"Oh...." Renko helped Yukari onto the bed, still looking as though she'd throw up at any moment. "This is... quite.... a place."

"So what do we do about Yukari!? I-I.. I don't know what to do!" Sveena panicked.

"I.... I don't actually know...." Renko would have suggested the hospital earlier, but reasoned that Yukari, being the reincarnation of Maribel, probably would distrust hospitals after what happened to her during life.

"D-Do you think healing would work!? I can- I can heal people!" Sveena asked.

"It's worth a shot, I guess!" Renko shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what to do about parasites!"

"Um- Uh- Okay! Okay!" Sveena directed the winds of the Warp down upon Yukari, intent on healing the youkai, "Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework!"

The healing effects of the warp goddess effectively drove out the parasite that had infected the youkai. Yukari choked and vomitted a demonic worm into her mouth. The parasite seethed at Sveena, spitting out a green fluid at her, before disappearing down Yukari's esophagus once more.

"Oh no you don't!" Sveena snapped, forcing the vomit and, presumably the worm, out of Yukari's gullet and splattering the contents under her will against a wall.

The worm screamed as Sveena forced it out of the youkai's systems. The creature slithered about the room in a frantic frenzy before coiling around Renko's ankle and burying its fangs into her calf.

"Oh my gosh!" Sveena shouted in frustration, teleporting the vile worm into the void with its cousin with a huff. "Are you okay, Renko?"

"I- I think," Renko answered. "But that thing could have laid eggs in me or something.... Oh, that's a scary thought! What if the babies try to explode out of you like they do in that one movie, or come out of you when you're using the restroom?!"

Sveena let out a horrified gasp. "O-Oh my gosh! I- Uh- Okay, um... I coul- uh.. I could take off your leg and then grow it back!" She hurriedly proposed.

"What- no! Don't do that! That's worse!" Renko applied pressure to the bite wound to at least stop the bleeding.

"They'd help," Shigoku affirmed, "but doing it while she's asleep would help, too. In addition to that, I'll see if I can't make something to help deal with anything that could be left. I've made nanobots before, so this should be a piece of cake. But to do that, I'll need one of the worms."

"Oh! Right!" Sveena teleported the two worms into the room along with a plastic container. They appeared on the far side of the room, just incase.

"This will do. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. So.. Should we just stay with Yukari?" Sveena asked, sitting down on the bed beside the youkai and already directing a constant healing wind into her.

"Do you need me to get you anything to.. Do stuff to the worms?" Sveena asked. As it turned out, the bedroom had no actual doors. The entire room was its own little pocket dimension.

"Hmm? Actually, yes. Alcohol- make sure it's the 'isopropyl' variety, not the drinking variety-, a microscope, scrap metal, fibreglass...." The doctor listed off a grocery list worth of ingredients, tools, and parts necessary for his experiments and construction.

"Uh... I.. I don't know what most of that is," Sveena admitted.

"Err... Just take me back to where you first met me. I'll tell you when I'm done."

"Okay!" Sveena nodded. With that, Shigoku was gone. Sveena let out a sigh and laid back on the bed, quickly sitting back up upon realizing she was laying on Yukari's legs.

Slowly, the youkai of boundaries blinked herself to sleep, exhausted after her struggle with the demonic parasite.

================================================================

A Memory of Phantasm

Cold. Pain. Agony. This was what death felt like, wasn't it? Nothing but a dark oblivion for the rest of eternity. Maribel's chest still stung from where she plunged the knife in.

"Serves me right." Maribel glided her hand over her chest as to suppress not just her physical pain, but also her emotional one.

Wait, how was she moving her hand? Wait, how was she thinking? What was any of this? Why did she feel cold?

Maribel gasped as she pullled herself up, greeted to the gentle drifting of snow in the middle of winter. Was this a dream? Or a hallucination?

"Gah!" Maribel tumbled back into the snow, in attempts to conceal her body to the rest of the world.

"Is someone there?!" A man called out into the desolate winter forest. "Are you lost?"

"Oh no...." Maribel tried to bury as much of herself in the snow as she could. "D-don't look at me! Please!"

"What are you doing in the forest? Do you live here? It's freezing up here!"

"P-please! I beg you, don't come here!" The edges of Maribel's cheek stung from the icy lashes of the unforgiving snow as she winced, hoping that whoever was out in the wilderness would not find her so helpless and undignified.

Either ignorant of Maribel's requests or perhaps even to exploit her misfortune, footsteps cracked in the snow. "Oh my goodness, you must be freezing!"

Maribel promptly felt a blanket being thrown over her shoulders as a set of firm yet gentle hands pulled her up. "What's your name, miss?"

"M-Maribel. Maribel Hearn."

"Maribel Hearn. That's an odd name. Are you a foreigner?" Maribel felt herself being lead down a mountain.

"N-No. I'm a Japanese citizen, I promise. At least... in the process of citizenship."

"Japan?" Despite speaking Japanese himself, the man did not seem to recognize the great island nation by name. "I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with that nation."

"Pardon? You're speaking Japanese!" With what little strength she had, Maribel tried to look at the man incredulously, even though the blanket continued to obscure her vision.

"Shhhh.... I'll bring you down to the nearest village. I know people who can help you. Just walk with me for now, alright?"

"B-but... I'm-"

"I'm well aware. But the people here are very reserved and respectable. They won't mind you any ridicule or shun upon arrival. For now, please, stay quiet. Buddha will help you."

Wordlessly, Maribel complied with the stranger. For minutes on end, the two walked in silence save for the bitter winds that lashed at the two. It felt like an eternity before Maribel heard voices once more.

"Ah, there you are, Myouren." A woman's voice spoke. "Who is that you have with you?"

"I found her in the mountains, alone. Please, take her to the Saigyouji's. They should be able to help her recover. Oh, and please lend her some of your spares for now, Byakuren."

"Of course." Maribel felt the blanket being taken off of her, and felt a set of robes being wrapped around her. Not quite a down-feather jacket, or even a kimono to protect against the cold, but it certainly beat treading through the harsh Japanese winter without anything covering her.

"Certainly not a name I'd hear from this part of the mountains," Byakuren agreed. "... Or any other regions I know of, for that matter."

"It doesn't matter. Just take her to the Saigyouji's for now. She should be safe there from the war. I'll be looking for other survivors."

War?

"Of course." Maribel felt Byakuren grab her by the wrist. "The Saigyouji's. Safe journeys, brother." Maribel heard the brother and sister hug each other before Byakuren guided her for the rest her walk through the snow.

Maribel knew that she didn't need to walk any further when a wave of heat washed over her.

"Ah, sister Byakuren. Who is this you bring to our humble household?"

"Myouren found her in the wilderness. Please, take her in, at least for the night. Oh, and clothe her as well; Myouren found her without anything to keep her warm."

"Gladly." Maribel felt someone lead her by the wrist. "Yuyuko, take her to your room: you seem to be her size. Give her your spares."

"Yes, mother!" A much younger voice resonated as Maribel felt her wrist being grabbed energetically, before being pulled into a darker room. "Can you put these on?"

Maribel looked up again, and was greeted by a girl with a pleasent smile. She was no older than twenty one at most- perhaps even younger. Propped in front of her was a beautiful blue kimono, decorated with butterflies and cherry petals. Something that caught Maribel's eye was the electrical lighting, or rather, the lack thereof: lanterns and fires illuminated the house.

"... Can you look away?" Maribel stretched out a feeble hand to accept the girl's gift.

"Of course. Oh, my name is Yuyuko Saigyouji! You are....."

Maribel almost answered the question before remembering Myouren's confusion from earlier. "... I don't have one."

"Oh. Well, I'll see you outside!"

Despite the popularity of the kimono in Japanese media, Maribel had no idea how to put one on. She spent a solid minute or two in Yuyuko's room figuring out how to squeeze herself in. Luckily, Maribel finally managed to figure it out, despite almost ripping it twice.

By the time Maribel rejoined Yuyuko outside, she could already see a number of people in the single room. Oddly enough, the house seemed very oriental and traditional in style.

"Did you sleep well, Merry?" Renko smiled at the youkai, clearly willing to give the name "Maribel" a second try.

Dully, Yukari nodded in response.

"I was really worried," Sveena remarked, letting out a sigh of relief as she finally let up on the healing.

"The machines did a thorough analysis of your body," Shigoku explained. "Negative traces for the worms, but they're running on multiple routines, just to be safe. When they're sure with a 99.999% confidence level, you'll relieve them out of your body as waste."

"... And that's important because...."

"Basically, don't freak out about metal in your urine. I still wish the specimens survived long enough to be studied more thoroughly, though. I could diagnose them the ne-"

"They were here for me." Yukari interrupted Shigoku's monologue.

"I beg your pardon?"

"They aren't just parasites," Yukari explained. "They're demons. Agents of the devil Shinki. They were sent to torture me."

"Great. Now we have the Devil to worry about, too." Renko huffed as she acknowledged the new information.

"Well, it's a good thing we got it out of you," Sveena smiled, looking on the bright side of the situation. She made a mental note to investigate this 'Shinki' later.

"Well," Shigoku inquired. "Why does this 'Shinki' person- 'the Devil,' as you cite them- send them out to attack you specifically?"

"... No doubt, it would be interesting to hear a story about out cheating this alleged 'greatest cheater to mankind.'" Shigoku said the last part of his sentence with certain disdain, doubting the validity of such religious texts and stories.

"It appears that the youkai Maribel Hearn is far stronger than I had projected. My attempts at nullfying her power failed, and the great Evil One- YAMI- is on the move. Suit up. Prepare yourself. Train the Hellknights."[/color]

"Which ones?"

"ALL OF THEM. The commoners, the barons, the arch-viles, even the imps for all I care! Nourish the demonic masses! Prepare the great armies! A threat even greater than the Doom Slayer approaches. Should [size=20]YAMI come to power, then I'm afraid our pact would be over, and the world plunged into truely eternal darkness. You wouldn't want that, surely."

Byakuren's heart began to sear with a heat worse than an eternal fire as Shinki's urgency trickled into her body. The Pact.

"What of the others?" Wincing in pain, Byakuren slowly tilted her head upwards towards the visage of evil. "Are they not more pressing issues than our hypothetical... situation?"

"Junko will deal with the Holy one and his little friends," Shinki affirmed. "Hakurei has more enemies than she'd like, making her a nonissue. Hecatia will deal with the false necromancer soon enough. The Moriyas are too weak and insignificant to pose any noticable threat for the next century, and Scarlet's own selfish naivety will soon be her undoing. But rather, it is Hearn who still concerns me: she's unpredictable, and can flip between either Maribel or Yukari on the flip of a dime. Every little thing she does somehow empowers the Dark God, and her desires to raise the enemy are almost as great as mine to stop it. And, of course, there is nothing any of us can do to stop her. The most we can do is prepare for the Dark God, and perhaps we will survive in a world of the youkai."

"That won't be so bad," Byakuren thought to herself. "Youkai can change. Youkai can have souls and dreams. They don't have to be the manifestations of fear. You're just not opening up enou-"

"Do NOT take my commands lightly!"

A bolt of Argent plasma struck Hijiri, causing her pain unimaginable to all but the most damned of souls.

"Let me say it again. You will prepare the legions of Hell for war. You will not fratenize with the enemy. Do so, and the pact will be invalidated. Do I make myself clear?"

"... Yes, ma'am."

"Not so worthless after all. Now go! We're wasting precious time!" Shinki smashed her great staff against the polished brimstone floor, dismissing Byakuren.

"I'd rather a world run by demons than a world run by youkai. We must stop the Dark God! We MUST."

"... Tea's cold. I expected better from you, Sakuya." Remilia poured the remainder of Sakuya's hard work on the floor. "... And you got the floor wet. Chop chop."

Within the blink of an eye, Sakuya appeared at Remilia's right side, with the stain completely removed and a new cup of tea in hand. "The blood is fresh, mistress. Fresh from a host, just as you like it."

Greedily, Remilia snatched the cup out of Sakuya's hand. Sure enough, the masterful brewery of Sakuya met the minimum of Remilia's impossible standards, as always. But it would pass.

"... I've been thinking," Remilia thought aloud. "I haven't seen Flan eat since that foreigner took her. The cookie jar isn't short of being full, which I suppose means more snacks for me. What do you say, Sakuya?"

"All the foods I leave for her remain untouched," the maid informed. "No matter what I leave out, the dish always weighs the same. It's starting to trouble me, actually....."

"Pounds, Sakuya. We use pounds under this roof. Well, pounds and ounces. You ought to know better." Remilia took a sip of tea, as she always did when seperating important matters from petty small talk. "As for Flan, cut down on the feedings. It's like a dog: they'll eat whatever you leave them when they're hungry enough. Besides, then we won't have to worry about her turning into a pig, yes? No need to worry about an overweight child in this household, no sir!" Remilia smiled to reflection as she took another sip of tea.

It was a wonder how Flandrew sustained herself. Ever since Remilia noticed the significant decrease in her sweets (roughly half), she deemed that Flandre was given "too much freedom" under the household. Thus back to the chain and leash it was for Flandre. And of course, Remilia's poor judgement (or was it her sadism? Flandre couldn't tell at this point) marked her "food dish" just out of reach of the poor vampire. And, of course, the bed was too tall for Flandre to climb, and the chain prohibited her from being able to fly onto the mattress easily. At this point, the little vampire resorted to sleeping with her giant teddy bear, which, thanks to her unfortunate ability, rendered it into a pile of ash within the first night.

But, that's okay. Remilia did all this because she loved Flan. Sister knew what she was doing. Sister knew what was best!

.... Right?

Flan wasn't completely alone. In fact, she had been getting food, and a decent amount, too. She was receiving the attention any child craved. She might have even found a new friend in the process.

The voice in her head said nice things to her. True, Remilia wasn't all that happy when she found out ("I'm not raising a queer in this house," she said), but the voice merely assured her that it Remilia was just confused, and that she too would come to love it if the two met.

"Hello, Mr. Voice-In-My-Head," Flandre cheered. "I've been a good girl, listening to my sister while you were gone! How about you?"

"Oh. I think I'm going to like it!" In truth, Flandre didn't like Patchouli's little 'educational' movies very much. The colors and noises made her head hurt, but it certainly beat being neglected. Besides, Koishi was coming, too! Despite being a "filthy mind-reader from the underground," Koishi liked much of the same things as Flan did. The two became good friends, even if Remilia wouldn't like it so much. Besides, Patchouli always brought lots of toys with her.

Just now did Remilia notice the dot moving across the sky. It was small from where Remilia watched, but was noticable none the less. The Nazi flying fortress The Ausmerzer Rained down gunfire and and energy bolts down on its enemies.

"... I'm... not to sure myself, ma'am." Sakuya squinted at the window.

Promptly, a nearby school that was within viewing range lowered its flags, and a red flag was raised in its place, flying the swastika of the Nazi Party.

In horror, Remilia spat out her tea. "Sakuya! Tell me you can see that at least!"

"... See what, mistress?"

"Goodness, Sakuya, you are a fool!" Remilia doused her maid with the remainder of her boiling tea. "Did you not just see that?! They lowered the British flag in favor of.... whatever this is! Did you not see that? That-that act of heresy?!"

What with Remilia's extreme nationalism, Sakuya learned to tune out any British flag she saw, and learned to nod in agreement with her mistress whenever the words "Britain" or "England" came up in any conversation. (With England, though, she had to be more careful: Remilia could go from talking about the greatness of England to spiting the colony of New England with but the slightest provocation.) "Mmmmm-hmmmm."

"I say we punish them," Remilia declared with a huff. "Yes! Show them who has the most powerful navy in the entire world!"

"Mmmm-hmmmmm."

"Then they'll learn better than to touch our flag!"

"Mmmmm-hmmmmm."

Promptly, Remilia raised her right hand into the air, and a plume of red mist swirled out of Remilia's hand. "May the poison of the Scarlet Mist burn their lungs," Remilia chanted. "And may the sun never shine again on their pitiful little party!"

".... Mmmmm-hmmmmm." Only after processing what Remilia said did Sakuya realize the ramifications, causing her eyes to widen.

"Konpaku could be out there," thought the Scarlet Devil mage. "She could even be.... right over there." Sakuya watched as Remilia's toxic fog rose to the Mesosphere, and began to turn life-giving day into a toxic night.

"I look forward," Remilia agreed as the people below (both Nazi and bystander) began to choke. "Oh, how I look forward to the feast...."

==============================================================

"Hiiiiiiiii-YAH!"

A wooden block split apart, with the cut portions steaming at the ends.

"... Tell me, what am I doing again, doc?"

"Preparing."

"For what, though?"

"A little trip to the moon."

"... Huh. Well, sure feels great to be alive, I guess."

Indeed, being dead sucked. Poor Tenshi had absolutely no idea what happened or why it did, but as far as she knew, she was enjoying a carefree day in Heaven, as always, eating her peaches. The next, she was a pile of ash on the ground! How did that come to be?

Well, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Tenshi was alive again, and that it felt great! Well, having to fight an army of wierd masked people with armbands wasn't great, and finding out that she died wasn't so great either. But at least her sword was okay.

"... So tell me again, why's the moon so important?"

"Several reasons." Eirin set aside some of the anti-Lunarian drug that Reisen struggled oh so much with. "First of all, if we defeat the Watutsaki sisters, Kaguya can be asserted as queen of the moon, and maybe I can get a little something out of it myself. Second, without the abusive sisters as head, we have a greater chance at taking out Reimu and Yakumo both."

"... And I care because...."

"Because Yakumo's little army has plans to summon the great Youkai God. That won't be so great for me now, would it? A Lunarian God of evil, I could get behind, though...."

"... huh." Tenshi put a finger to her chin. "... Doesn't sound appealing to me either way, what with the whole 'evil' part."

"'Evil' is a subjective term." Eirin began dicing and mixing raw ingredients once more. "Rather, 'evil' is defined by those who are hurt by it. To me, perhaps it's not so much 'evil' as it is 'questionable.'"

"But isn't that basically being evil?"

"Have you ever wondered where your pork comes from?"

"Yeah!" Tenshi beamed. "It comes to our plates because we say so!"

Eirin looked up from her concoction, taken aback. "... An animal probably died somewhere in that process," she argued.

"Not really, actually....."

"Well, the point is, sometimes you shouldn't question things that are normally revolting. Sometimes, that 'revolting' thing may just be better for you."

"I dunno. Sounds like something a bad guy would say...."

"Well...." Eirin put some thought into how she would argue that, as it was, in many degrees, true. "... I'm categorized as a heterosexual female, so you really can't call me a 'bad guy,' per say."

"... True...." Tenshi shrugged. "Eh, that's too much thinking for me anyway. What do I cut up next?"

Eirin took a quick survey of the landscape. Trees, rocks, metal beams, and even some vehicles lay split in two. Something that Tenshi wouldn't cut so easily, so the annoying angel wouldn't bother her with so many questions.

"... Cut that," Eirin suggested.

"... Cut what?"

"An oxygen molecule," Eirin answered.

"... What's that," Tenshi began, "and how do I do that?"

"I hear the Konpaku girl can cut confusion," Eirin objected. "Cutting an air molecule should be a piece of cake."

"... How will I know when I cut it?"

"You can tell," Eirin answered. "That should keep you busy, nosy little brat." Eirin reached into a box and silently retrieved a lab rat, whose blood was infused with a Lunarian's. (Some of Reisen's blood donations.) (An evil genius wouldn't honestly use some of their own blood to test weapons against themselves, would they now?)

"Well okay then." Tenshi began swiping furiously at the air before her, while Eirin adminitstered the drug into the lab rat, making sure it recoiled and died in a painful method to deem her latest concotions successful.

After having spent so much time befriending, or trying to befriend, Yukari, Sveena was reminded of another duty she needed to fulfill, and appeared before the front door of the Scarlet Devil Mansion... Then paused.

On one hand, she wanted to give Remilia the benefit of the doubt, knock on the front door all civil. On the other hand, she knew Remilia was... Not the best person, and was unsure if she would try to hide any evidence of sisterly abuse. Should she go through the front? Or teleport to Flandre and see what's going on with her first?

"Hmmm..." Sveena hummed for a moment. It didn't take long, however, for the safety of Flandre to win out and force the Enclavian to teleport directly to Flandre to see how she was doing.

Flandre sat in the middle of her room, staring blankly at the wall (as to be expected). The iron chain around her neck kept the little vampire restrained to a 3 yard sphere. Especially compared to Remilia's expansive basement, this are seemed miniscule, as though Flandre wasn't the focus of the room that was dedicated to her. The vampire's room resembled more of a storage room more than anything, with the majority of belongings in the basement being mostly artifacts and other rares that Remilia collected; hardly anything in the room was fit for a child. And what little toys there were, they were often strewn across the floor, destroyed by Flandre's desctructive nature.

Perhaps most worrisome, however, was Flandre's reaction to this subpar living condition. A smile stretched ear to ear on Flandre, but it was a smile similar to Koishi's if anything: blank. Empty. Void. An empty mask to cover the child's equally empty mind.

Initially, Sveena was excited to see the vampire, letting out a happy, "Flan-" before her smile was quickly wiped off of her face by the scene before her. "... Flandre..." Sveena gasped, taking her eyes off of the surroundings and quickly kneeling to the child's aid, "Flandre! What... Why are you down here? What's... What's happened to you?"

"... Good things? What good things!?" Sveena asked, flabbergasted that, of all replies, that was what came out of Flandre's mouth.

"Sister let me make a new friend," Flandre began. "She also lets people see me often, too! Miss Patchouli comes here a lot, and Marisa's friend comes, too. Also this girl Koishi comes see me a lot, but sister doesn't like her a lot. She stills sees me a lot, though. Oh, and someone talks to me a lot, too! I don't see him a lot, though. He says his name is Mr. Voice-in-my-head, and he says very nice things about me!"

Sveena stared at Flandre for a few moments, a horrified expression on her face. "Flandre... This..." She slowly looked around before settling her gaze back on the vampire, "This is not okay... This.. This isn't okay, Flandre... This isn't right. You're.. You're not supposed to be stuck to a wall... Trapped in a dark room."

"They say it's because I might break things," Flandre replied. "Ms. Patchouli says I might break things in the library, and the maid says I might break the plates, and sister says I might break her vases and her windows and her 'well everything's. What's a 'well everything?' Sister talks about it when she talks about me a lot, so it must be important to her."

Sveena slowly shook her head. "Flandre, no.. That's not a good reason... You shouldn't be trapped down here," Sveena croaked as tears welled up in her eyes. In a flash of green, the chain around Flandre's neck vanished as Sveena took Flandre in her arms, embracing her. Flandre merely hung limply in Sveena's arms, and Sveena would feel the vampire's ribs through her clothes as she hugged her.

Sveena slowly pulled back, shakily placing a hand on Flandre's abdomen to confirm what she thought she felt. There was plenty the Enclavian did not know, but she knew from experience that being able to feel the ribs like this was a sign of not eating. "D-Do they even feed you?" Sveena asked, "Do you eat?"

"The maid brings me food every day," Flandre replied happily. "I can't reach it usually, though. Sister thinks I might break the plate, so they make it so that I can't touch it. Ms. Patchouli brings me food, though!"

"What food?" Sveena asked, not believing for a second that Flandre ate anything at all.

"She gives me lots of chocolate," Flandre answered with a smile. "They taste amazing! Ms. Patchouli says they're expensive, so she only gives me two or three pieces."

"... Oh... Flandre... This.. This is awful.. Oh my gosh," Sveena covered her face for a moment. When she looked up, she placed a hand on the vampire's shoulder. "H-Here..." She murmured, directing both a healing wind and a nourishing wind into Flandre. The latter was one of the first things she learned how to do in regards to her godly abilities.

The vampire's frail limbs fattened up noticably after the nourishing wind, yet Flan immediately fell into a coughing fit after the healing wind, in a manner similar to a victim of whooping cough. Sveena halted the nourishing wind, but kept up with the healing as she worriedly patted Flandre on the back, unsure of what else to do while the child coughed.

The more the wind healed the vampire, the more symptoms of illness she began to show, until it got to a point where the vampire screamed, nipping at Sveena with her stubby little teeth.

Sveena halted the healing wind, unsure of why Flandre's condition worsened (Other than her no longer being anorexic), but she knew it was. "... What is happening?" Sveena gasped, not really worried about minor scratches.

Consumed by a sort of frenzy, Flandre jumped for Sveena, her pupils dilated to the point of almost looking completely white. At the edges of her eyes, glowing red veins glistened, almost as though Flandre was partially electronic.

Sveena held up a hand, causing Flandre to stop midair. The Enclavian stared at the little girl for a few moments, trying to calm down, but she couldn't. Everything she had seen in the short time since showing up was awful. The living conditions, the lack of food, the fact that somehow her godly healing abilities were not working. "... This isn't right..." She murmured, teleporting away directly to Remilia. There would be no door opening, no pleasantries, no nothing.

As Sveena would navigate through Remilia's maze-like halls, fairy maids would give her a stink-eye, as Remilia had Sakuya train them to do with "filthy colonial pigs." But of course, these maids were to be paid little attention.

Eventually, Sveena would find Remilia in one of her tea sessions in the window room, overlooking the chaos of the scarlet mist she had created. The great brat paid Sveena little attention herself, but the ever-acute Sakuya took immediate notice, whispering a warning to her mistress of an intruder.

"What have you done to her?" Sveena seethed, willing Remilia's tea into nonexistence.

"W-my tea!" Remilia gasped as she dropped her tea cup, leaving it as a shattered mess on the floor.

"SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR STUPID TEA! THAT DOESN'T MATTER RIGHT NOW!" Sveena roared, the glass of the window shattering at the Warp God's fury.

Remilia found herself half-sunken in her extravegant chair, as if a giant hand or strong wind pushed her into the back of her seat. "... If tea isn't important," Remilia asked after a pause, "then what is so important right now that it's worthy of interrupting my personal life?"

"FLANDRE! That's what's important! I let you take her because you said you could help her! That you would love her! But she's locked in a dark room! Chained to a wall! She can't even reach her FOOD!" Sveena roared. The very ground shook along with her trembling fists as she glared Remilia down.

"Keep it down, would you?! The peons outside might think that there's an animal in here or something!" Remilia gave a weary glance out the now-shattered window.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THEY THINK! I care about Flandre, what you're supposed to be doing!" Sveena snapped

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Flandre exists." Remilia immediately understood what Sveena was so upset about. "Well, I'll be happy to let you know that I've been taking very extensive measures to guarantee Flandre's happiness... all while abiding to my rules, of course."

"SHE CAN'T EVEN REACH HER FOOD! I HAD TO FEED HER MYSELF!"

"She can't?" This seemed to come as a genuine surprise to Remilia. "... Well, I suppose she has to work for her food, in that case. Like any good subject, they have to contribute to eat. I consider myself very lenient in that regard, actually. All she really needs to do is stretch just a little more for her food. Speaking of food, Sakuya! Snacks!"

Before Sakuya could abide by her master's orders, she was teleported to a pocket dimension, as Sveena did not want someone else caught in the crossfire of what would come next. The Enclavian swore herself off of physical violence, of beating others no matter how awful they were...

But she never swore herself off of forcing someone else to feel emotion. Emotional violence.

For a very brief moment, everything was dark for Remilia. Before any questioning of what was going on could take place, she would be mentally thrown against a brick wall of emotion. All of the pain Sveena could empathetically feel from Flandre was compounded into a single smack. All of the neglect, the desperate clinging to love, the starvation, everything.

But it wasn't a single flash, it quickly became a barrage, a beatdown upon Remilia. Midway through the mental attack, it was no longer just the pain and suffering of Flandre, but Sveena's own feelings of abuse seeping through. If Sveena could not convince, could not properly teach Remilia why what she was doing was horrible, then she would force the conclusion upon her. She would force this spoiled brat to feel empathy, and to feel every bit disgusted with herself and miserable as she deserved.

And then,

It stopped just as abruptly as it started, with Sveena standing over the vampire. "Do you get it now?" She spat, "What you have done to her?"

"What...." Remilia trembled in place, unable to comprehend what had just happened to her. "What sort of torment- what sort of abuse- was that?! Who-why would you do this to anyone, lest someone as charismatic and.... holy as me?!"

Sveena slowly learned in towards Remilia, staring directly into her soul, or lack thereof. "Why would you do that to Flandre? Every day?"

"That's not right," Remilia argued, her will slowly crawling back to her. "No. That can't be Flandre. A Scarlet would never have to suffer through something so awful in their life! Such pain should be foreign to a family with such a high name! You lie! This isn't me, nor is this Flandre! This must be the woes of some peon or commoner!"

Sveena stood back up tall (Relative to Remilia). "I took her emotion and forced it into you. You felt everything she's felt... All of that pain.... Was because of you," Sveena shot back.

"What sort of hell spawn do you take me for," Remilia scoffed. "Me? Charismatic and agreeable Remilia Scarlet? Subjecting someone-anyone- to this sort of torture?"

"... After all that, this should feel familiar," Sveena spat as an iron chain grew from the wall and tied itself around Remilia's neck just as Flandre had been grounded in the basement.

"Gah!" Remilia shrieked as a her throat began to hiss. "Of all things, why would you use iron?! It burns! Oh, someone get this off of me!"

"I just used the same thing you had wrapped around Flandre's neck," Sveena stated as the chain vanished. As angry as she was, she did not want to physically torture Remilia. Besides, the chain made its point.

"Nonsense!" Remilia gasped for air, clutching the red mark the iron chain had left on her. "Flandre didn't protest when she was restrained. No screaming, no struggle, nothing! It's you who summoned that devilish thing! You are the one at fault here, not me!" Miraculously, Remilia managed to deafen herself to the anguished cries from the outside. Most likely, the sound wasn't enough to penetrate the giant head she had.

"That," Remilia spat, "is not important right now. What matters is that you have invaded my personal space and tortured me! I would have had you executed if you were a commoner, which you are unfortunately not."

Sveena, tired of Remilia's mouth, gave a single emotional smack of a lifetime of Flandre suffering. "... Flandre really is a good girl... If she can look past everything you've done to her. What is going on outside?"

Sveena's emotional punch at Remilia would have been equivalent to hitting the snobbish brat with a bullet train. Unconditioned to such emotional trauma, Remilia broke down almost immediately, burying her face in her cap as tears bled through the fine silk. "What on earth was that supposed to be," Remilia bawled.

"Again, how Flandre has felt," Sveena answered tersely.

"No, that can't be true!" Still in denial at how cruel she could be, Remilia struggled to look for something to divert the blame towards. "... It's all your doings! Or that Hakurei tramp. Maybe you are in collaboration with Hakurei. Yes! That must be it! Well, I don't want that under my roof! Take your... your meddlesome, evil things outside! Right now!"

With that, the entire roof of the Scarlet Devil Mansion vanished. "I don't know who that is, and I don't care... I've never been more angry with someone in my entire life... I've met a lot of horrible, evil people... But I've never had to do this to them. I never forced them to feel all the pain they put someone else through."

"Well, you know what?" Remilia looked up from her cap, eyes swollen and red. "Perhaps you didn't need to do that to these 'evil people' because you're just as bad as they are!" Remilia stormed her way to the door. "I want you out of the mansion by the time I get back," she growled.

"If you leave, I am taking Flandre right now. You will never see her again if you walk out that door," Sveena threatened coldly.

Remilia paused as she reached for the door knob. "... Have it your way," She growled. "I won't be leaving the room. I won't be the one leaving your sights."

Remilia slowly turned to face Sveena, her left hand balled into a fist. She outstretched her right hand, and her disproportionately gigantic spear gungnir materialized. "I hope you can run, intruder."

Despite the threat, Sveena smiled. A part of her expected Remilia to go through the door, let Flandre be taken. Even if it was more of a possessive attitude rather than a loving one, it was better than outright letting someone she hated take her sister. "Maybe you can be a good person after all," Sveena mused as the spear poofed away with a blink of the Enclavian's eyes.

Remilia paused at Sveena's statement, before chuckling. "... Thank you for the input, Sveena," she said in a chillingly calm and collected manner. "it TELLS ME Į̴̛̛̬̖̭̖͙̽͒̉̄̆̾͞ N̨̧̧̛͈̻̭̋̌̀̎̽͘ͅE̶̼͉̼̖̗͍̟̣͋͒̾͒̌̓E̲͇͔͇͍̩̓̅̇̀̓͡͝ͅD̸̻͇̼̥͐́̍́́͆͟͡ T̴̺̰̦͕̰͚̯͊̿̃̀̍̓̎̚͠ͅȌ̱̫̖̯̳̜͈̯͊̈́͊̔͞͞ͅ W̸̨̧̜͍͈̘̗̏̽̉͐́͂́͜͝Ȯ̵̡͓̟̙̬̩̈́̿͑̽̋́̕R̸͙̯̱͎̹̼̓̓̕͝͡͠K̡͕͔͚͉̖̀̎̄̓̓̋̑͊͝ Ạ͎͎̞̳̩̘̝́͑̋͊̒̎́͜͠ Ĺ͔̭̰͍̝̱͂̆̒́̓͆̾̂́I̧͔̝͉̗̾̿́̌́̓̕̕͡T̵̥̟̜͓̎́̔͌̎͒͜ͅŢ̶͎̰̲̟̠̻̫̽̄͋̾̚L̷̢̥̘͚̞̜͇̓̈͒̾̓̾͘͠E̷̢̜̯̬̰̹̅̎̾̾̆̕͢͟͠ H̨͍̣̮̼͒̀͑̈͋̓̈̈͡Ả̸̼̖̖͈͇̜̀͛̄̐̈͞Ŗ̶̣̳̱̻͓̒̊̒̀͘͜͜͝͡͝Ḑ̵̢̡͍̩͔͕̼̟̙̇͊́̒͊͡͡Ĕ̶͔̱̬̣͉̀̎̆̓͊̍̋͡͡R̨̧̖̼̖̣̰̻̈́̍̅̔̚̚͢͢͞.̵̗̠̦̬̩͆͌́̔͑͊̅̎͒͘"

When Remilia opened her eyelids, empty sockets remained, with what appeared to be red circuitry running along her face.

Sveena was taken aback, shocked by what she saw. "W-B-.. What?" She gasped.

Remilia leapt for Sveena, fangs bared. Out of the vampiress' mouth came an unearthly shriek that sounded like a cross between the pitiful moans of thousands of tortured spirits, the shrill screams of hundreds of vengeful spirits, and an assortment of other terrible sounds.

Sveena let out a yelp and teleported out of the way of the lunge and to the other side of the room. "... You're... This isn't Remilia," Sveena shook her head. As bad of a person as Remilia was, even Sveena could tell this was not the vampire, at least not right now.

Sveena furrowed her brow, determined to push through the eldritch effect. Either Yami was merely posing as Remilia this entire time, or only just now took control of things. Even then, considering what Drizzle raved about Yami, the Enclavian could determine it had been doing something to cause things to go so south.

"... Why do you want 'darkness'? Why do you do what you do?" Sveena asked.

I̶̼̝̣̗̗̣̬̥̻̘͐̐͋͛͠ W̶̧̪͉̝͚̯͈̓̅̿́͐͝͞Ã̶̡̟̹͓͙̞́̏͂̈͆̓̃̈́͜Ņ͉͕̮̬̖̽̐̐̍͘͘͜͝T̵̨͕͚͓̖͔̺̅́̈́͘͝ Y̴̢̖̳̩̲̮̙̖̥͛͗͗̔̓̚Ȯ̯̹͎͖̦͍͙̤̘̓̄͗̂̾́Ū̖͕͚̯̋̃̓̉͜ TO leave!" No longer was Yami speaking as Remilia pointed at the door. "Damaging my property, intruding on my privacy, and spitting insults at me in my own house! Get out! You are not wanted! GO!"

Sveena stared at Remilia with a confused expression. "... Wait.. But you just.. Remilia?"

"OUT!" Remilia stamped her feet in frustration. "Why can't you just quiet yourself for once and listen to me?!"

"But... Yami," Sveena was still recovering from the abrupt change back to Remilia, scratching her head.

"GEEEEET! OOOOOOOOOUT!" Remilia's head turned bright red as she wailed.

The Enclavian paused. Obviously, Remilia had no idea what just happened. With how emotional she seemed, Sveena was almost willing to oblige the poor vampire's request until she remembered..

Remilia's still a huge jerk. "Not until we are done talking about Flandre and how you've made her feel," Sveena stated, regaining her composure.

Remilia had it with Sveena's uncooperation. "I won't," she spat. "We are done. This conversation is over."

"No it is not, unless you're saying you'll let me take Flandre, we are not done talking," Sveena declared.

"Listen to me," Remilia seethed as she grabbed Sveena under the chin, forcing her head to look out into the open world ahead. "Do you see all this? It's mine. Do you see the red sky? I did that. It's mine. Everything you can possibly see or feel is mine. Everything you've touched, everything you've hated, everything you loved, that's all mine. This world belongs to me. This world revolves around me. I don't care what you say or do; this is my world, and my wants are all that matters! You will not- you can not take Flandre from me, because she is mine. Do. I Make. Myself. Clear?!"

Sveena was silent for a moment before replying with, "What red sky?" As soon as she spoke, the red mist Remilia had called upon the Nazis was gone, replaced by a beautiful, clear blue sky.

Remilia watched in silence, fortunately (or perhaps, unfortunately) sheltered from the sun by a shadow cast by her wall. Promptly, the vampiress let go of Sveena, too angry to express her fury. She was done dealing with enough nonsense for the day.

After a moment, the roof of the mansion returned, and the window Sveena had broken unbroke itself. "... You can be a good person Remilia, but until you take care of your sister, pay attention to her, love her... Until you try to be a good person, there's one thing you'll never be able to say is yours: Friendship."

Remilia stared outside, speechless and infuriated. She wanted to scream and throw things at Sveena, but knew that it would be of no use. Despite how magnificient and charismatic she was in her eyes, somehow Sveena was unable to pick up on it. And for whatever reason, she wouldn't acknowledge it, either.

"... No."

"No what?" Sveena asked.

"You're wrong," Remilia responded. "I am already the greatest 'person' there is. There is nothing to be expected from me. Now, can you kindly shut up and go away?"

"... Until you start questioning if you're a good person, you won't be," Sveena stated, "So what about Flandre? I'll leave right now, but why shouldn't I take her?"

"Because you're unworthy of her," Remilia replied. "I've seen what happened to Flandre under your care. You think what I do for her is bad? That I'm unsuited to be her caretaker? Well, then perhaps you are a hundred times worse. You don't deserve my Flandre. You don't deserve anything of the sort! Now, please get out, and leave me alone."

As expected, Sveena did not leave when ordered, but she did reflect on Remilia said. "... You're right. I let Flandre get hurt. I should have protected her... Neither of us are what Flandre needs," Sveena admitted solemnly, "If I were to take her, she wouldn't stay with me. You've kept her safe, but... She's unhappy. She's not living. I tried to give her that, but... I completely forgot about protecting her from others. I can find someone who can give her both."

"So you see," Remilia sneered, "I'm the superior caretaker between the two of us. Now that that has been established, please kinddly leave."

"No, wait, is that what you think this is about?" Sveena asked, flabbgerasted as she approached the vampire, "This whole time, did you think I was just trying to be better than you? This isn't about you. This isn't about me. Did you really think I cared about that at all?"

"Well, it doesn't matter to me if you cared or not," Remilia replied. "What matters to me is that you had the audacity to, even for a moment, take my property. But at least we established that what falls into your hands is as good as gone."

"I don't think we agreed on that at all, but... I'm still taking Flandre and giving her to someone that can take care of her," Sveena affirmed, "Someone that can keep her safe and happy. I know you don't want to believe it, but what I made you feel... That is how she feels here. If you really are a good person- if you really are the 'greatest' person there is, you won't stop what is best for Flandre, and that's neither of us."

"Now, hold on," Remilia spat. "Nobody said you can take my stuff like that!"

"That," Sveena pointed to Remilia, "That right there is why she can't stay here, because you call her stuff. Try, just try, to imagine yourself as Flandre. I know you know already how it feels, since I made you feel it, so it won't be hard to imagine it. Would you want to be Flandre right now?"

Remilia thought for a moment. It was true, Sveena had shown Remilia pain beyond anything she could have possibly imagined. Enough to push Remilia- or really anyone- to the brink of sanity. But at the same time, she couldn't put herself in a bad light, could she now? Remilia spent some time thinking about how best to phrase her sentence.

"... I'd be grateful to have a roof over my head," she answered at last.

"I want a yes or no. Would you want to be Flandre right now?"

Remilia thought, as answering the question would leave her in a bad position in no matter how she answered. "... Well, if Flandre doesn't like it, that's her problem."

"So you would like it? You'd be fine with being Flandre? Yes or no," Sveena asked again, already knowing the answer, but she wanted to hear Remilia say it.

"... What happens if I don't answer? You can't do anything to me, can you now?"

"... I mean you already know I can," Sveena remarked.

"Well...." Remilia opened her mouth repeatedly to respond, but found that she couldn't force herself to say anything. One way or another, whether she liked it or not, she knew that Sveena would only take a "yes" or a "no."

"Then why not give Flandre a life that you'd be okay with living?" Sveena asked.

"Because...." At this point, even Remilia knew she was running out of justifications. ("I said so" had been invalidated as a possible response to Sveena's questions, demonstrated by the goddess' meddling.) "... Because.... Because think about it this way: I am her sister- her designated guardian- and yet, according to you, I'm unable to care for her. What makes you think anyone else with less obligation than I do has more authority to look after a child that isn't even theirs?"

"That's what I've done. Right now I'm taking care of someone that, before I met them, they weren't my child," Sveena answered, "... I'm not here to take Flandre away from you. I'm here to help Flandre, and if that means taking her away, I'll do it. But if I can leave her here knowing you will do a better job taking care of her than before, I will. But that won't happen if you won't give her a life you would be okay with living."

"Well, fine." Remilia huffed. "You win. I'll give Flandre a life that I'd maybe be fond of living myself. Is that good enough for you?"

"I'll check in to make sure, but yes," Sveena nodded with a smile, "Also... Keep an eye on her- Not because she might do something, but... If I could teleport here, someone else can too."

"Well, that's a given," Remilia agreed. "So fine. I'll let Flandre live the life of the elite, and you'll leave me alone. Is that good for you?"

"Other than the times that I'll visit to make sure that you're actually doing that, yes, I'll leave you alone... After a hug," Sveena spread out her arms with a cheeky smile.

"Okay, okay," Sveena chuckled, finally letting go of Remilia, "Remember. I'll be checking in, and Flandre better have a life you'd be okay with livin- Oh, right!" Sveena quickly remembered something, and Sakuya was teleported from the pocket dimension and back into the room.

Being only half human, Youmu wasn't nearly as affected by Remilia's toxic fog as an ordinary human being, but was still potent enough to leave the half-ghost disoriented while it lasted.

Melissa, on the other hand, had the displeasure of enduring the fog for as long as it was active. It didn't kill her thanks to the fact she passively healed herself, but she was in excruciating pain the entire time. "About time," She muttered, "The hell was that anyway?"

"No idea," Youmu answered. "But it certainly wasn't me."

"Well no shit, here I was thinking you popped out some giant fucking red fart that killed everyone. Thank you for clearing things up there," Melissa said sarcastically, pinching her brow.

"... Maybe you might have some idea where it came from?"

"How in the fu-" Melissa stopped herself and took a deep breath. She didn't want to snap at the only friend she had at the moment, "No, Youmu. I have no idea."

Booming footsteps approached the duo. Despite the Nazi soldiers themselves being unable to survive in the toxic scarlet mist, their machines proved themselves more durable. Kicking aside a Nazi's corpse, an enormous zitadelle clomped its way into view, flamethrower in one arm, and missile launcher in the other.

"... Maybe that guy has an idea," Youmu suggested as the zitadelle slowly turned to face the duo.

A little slow on the update, Youmu turned with surprise to hear Melissa suddenly yelling. "Run? Run where?"

Taking advantage of its target's slow reaction and straightforward mind, the zitadelle lowered its flamethrower arm, and fired a plume of ignited gas at the half-phantom.

"God fucking-" Melissa grabbed Youmu and shielded the half-phantom from the fire with her own body . "FUCKING GOD SHIT!" Melissa screamed whatever obscenities came to mind as her back was roasted.

"Oh my goodness," Youmu gasped as the fire whipped past the two of them, as she finally registered what Melissa suggested her to do earlier. "Are you okay? Do we still run?"

"NO! FUCK- YES! I'M FINE! RUN!" Melissa screamed, still holding onto Youmu as she lunged forwards just enough to where she could push Youmu ahead of the fire (But not push too hard at risk of causing her to fall over) before following after her.

Obediently, Youmu ran exactly as she had been instructed to do, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her.

But of course, it was out of the frying pan and into the fire for the half-phantom as she crashed into someone she would much rather not half ran into.

"O-Oh! R-Reimu!" Youmu trembled as she began to back away. "Um.... hi! I'll be leaving, so I guess I should be saying bye, too!"

"Wait a minute..." Reimu realized who she was talking to, and more specifically, what she was. "Well well well, Konpaku. Seems I caught you off guard. And looks like you don't have Yuyuko to protect you, either."

Reimu armed herself with her anti-youkai charms. "It's been a while since I've used these, and frankly, the world would be better with one le-"

Black tendrils lashed out at Reimu and bound her arms behind her back.

"The fuck's going on here?" Melissa asked, having caught up with Youmu.

"Let GO, Rumia!" Reimu tugged angrily at the tendrils as she struggled to free herself from the youkai's grasp. "I don't want to deal with your bullshit right no-"

The ground began to shake as the metallic clomping of the zitadelle from before returned. Without a second's hesitation, the robot unleashed a barrage of homing missiles into the air, all of them set to target any one of the four girls before the giant robot.

"God dammit.. Alright, Youmu, I'm gonna throw you in a second," Melissa said as she grabbed her friend, watching the missiles as they quickly rocketed towards the four.

"Wait, you're going to- what?!"

Melissa tossed Youmu upwards, grabbed onto both of her ankles, placed a hand below her soles, and tossed her almost like a javelin away from the machine just as the missiles struck, ensuring any that were locked onto the half-phantom would have blown up herself instead.

Luckily, Rumia was quick to react. Like an inky black glove, the little darkness youkai extended her hand to the missiles, all of which lodged themselves into the palm of the darkness yokai's black projection. "No hurting anyone," yellled Rumia as the missiles exploded harmlessly against the darkness. "I don't want to see any more youkai get hurt! Or tasty people, either!"

"Oh shit... I guess I didn't need to t- SHIT!" Melissa quickly realized she needed to catch her friend. She looked up at the sky, running back and forth trying to position herself under where she thought Youmu would land.

Youmu screamed as she fell back down. Luckily, she didn't smack against the pavement, as Melissa had feared.

Unfortunately, she instead landed with a hard clang right on the back of the giant Zitadelle. The dimwitted robot, sensing a disturbance on its rear, raised its flamethrower arm above its head as it tried to catch Youmu in ensuing flames.

"HEY! ROBO-BITCH!" Melissa shouted, hoping to draw the Nazi war machine's attention towards herself as she ran up to it, fist raised, "PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SHIT IDEOLOGY!"

The Nazi robot turned to the sound of the voice in a jerky movment. The sudden jolt caused Youmu to begin slipping off the robot's hide, causing the half-phantom to instinctively bury her sword into its side, the same way mountaineers use picks to cling onto steep clifffaces. The resulting stab caused the robot to bleed a searing energy-fluid, gushing out like a geyser all over Youmu, who yelled in response to the burning fluid.

"Youmu! Get off of it!" Melissa ordered before ripping the skin off of her fist with her teeth and punching the machine in its leg. Her impressive strength combined with her blood that ate away at whatever it touched made each strike more effective than the last as her hand mutilated itself more and more in the process, thus causing more blood to spill onto the robot.

"No more fighting!" Rumia lashed out at all three combatants with her dark tendrils, flicking Youmu and Melissa away from the crippled robot whilst plunging the rest of her tendrils into the Zitadelle's single eye, sucking out whatever evils were put into the robot like a leech.

Youmu whimpered as she lay on the ground, the edges of her hair blackened thanks to the Zitadelle's radiative "blood." In addition, she desperately wiped her face with her sleeves, desperate to get the robot "blood" off of her.

Once the searing had stopped, Youmu slowly lifted her arms away from her face, revealing burns where the zitadelle sprayed her. While nothing seemed permanent, the burns still made Youmu's face look teporarily lumpy with red sores.

"Fuck.. You'll be alright.." Melissa ssured efore turning her gaze back to the zitadelle with fury, attempting to run towards it as she screamed, "ROBOT PIECE OF SHIT!" This machine would not go unpunished for hurting Youmu.

The Zitadelle sparked and whisteled as bits of ROM were being forcibly wiped from the machine, with Rumia cleansing the machine completely of any sort of connection to the Nazi Party. Eventually, the red eye of the Zitadelle fizzled out, as the robot rebooted itself.

"Now you can't hurt good people anymore," Rumia cheered. "Now you can stop being bad!"

Slowly, the robot sparked itself back to life, with its slow rumbling parts accelerating to running speeds.

"FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE!" Melissa shouted, punching the robot's leg.

The Zitadelle first stared mindlessly down at Melissa, then to the area in front of it. Then back at Melissa. Then at Youmu. Then to its left, its right, up, down....

Finally, the Zitadelle raised its rocket launcher arm and fired a stream of missiles directly upwards, with booms signifying each missile locking onto its target, the first of which flew directly at Reimu, beaming the shrine maiden in the face before its veolocity carried it to the area behind the miko, exploding harmlessly against the pavement.

"... I'm ugly, aren't I?" Youmu stared at her reflection through her blade. "... I guess it's okay, since I made Sakuya wear that mask...."

"Wha? No, you're not ugly!" Melissa insisted as she approahced Youmu, "And that cunt was a bitch. She deserved it... Also that was really me that fucked up her face, not you."

"Still, she's supposed to be perfect and elegant. It's not nice of me to make you take that away from her." Youmu sighed as she rubbed her burn wounds. "... I guess we're even now."

"You didn't make me do shit," Melissa waved the notion away, "And that bitch was not perfect and elegant in the first place. Pfft, I bet she even pads her chest." Melissa tapped her own chest to emphasize her point, "She attacked us, so it's her fault her face got fucked up."

"... I still feel like it was my fault." Youmu lifted herself up onto the ground. "... Wait, weren't we looking for where that red mist thing came from?"

"... No. Not really. I stopped fucking caring about that," Melissa replied, "Did you want to look for where it came from?"

"... Yes," Youmu answered. "It made people get sick, so maybe if I find out, I can help people not get sick from it if it comes again."

"Red mist?" Rumia suddenly spoke up. "I remember the last time there was red mist in the sky."

"Remilia's doing," Reimu muttered, rubbing her forehead. "Wouldn't be surprised if it was her again."

"Who the fuck is that?" Melissa asked.

"Some spoiled brat," Reimu answered. "You'd commend even me if I punched her in the face."

"... Who are you again?" Melissa blinked.

Reimu's face first began to twist into a glare before one of Rumia's darkness tendrils plunged into the back of Reimu's head again, draining away some of the copious amounts of anger she had. "OW! You can stop that now! Geez.... Anyway, doesn't matter. You want to find Remilia? Look for her giant red mansion. Are we done now?"

Melissa slowly nodded as Reimu spoke before turning to Youmu, "You got that? Her name is Cunt."

"Is it? I thought it was Reimu...."

"Nope, it's Cunt," Melissa corrected, "And if she ever tells you otherwise, she's just joking. Remember that. Her name is Cunt."

"... Huh. Never knew that." Youmu pondered on the subject.

"Great. Now, if you excuse me, I have places to go." Reimu turned as she began to leave.

"Maybe you can find me some fresh food," Rumia suggested. "I don't want to eat people who died in poison, and I don't want to eat good people either. Something's telling me not to."

The reformed Zitadelle lightly patted Youmu on the head, as if it were apologizing for bleeding on her, as it clomped after Rumia and Reimu, waiting to see what its new master had in store for it.

"... Well that was a thing that happened," Melissa remarked, "Now what? Milkshakes?"

"... Remilia...." The name clung to Youmu. "... I feel like I should know that na-"

Then Youmu jolted, as though she were hit by a lightning bolt.

"... Remilia," she whispered to herself. "... is.. Sakuya's master.... And if Remilia's up to something... then maybe she sent Sakuya out...?"

"Well, then we should hide.. Preferrably somewhere with milkshakes," Melissa suggested.

"It's very popular where I come from," Youmu answered. "Vigna angularis, it's an annual vine that's...." For once, Youmu had found a subject she was mildly competent at, and of course she would go on for hours on end explaining to Melissa about the biology, nature, and cultivation of red bean.

As the explanation of the red bean went on and on, Melissa suddenly blinked her eyes and snapped back into reality, noting the milkshake in front of her. She looked around to see she and Youmu were in a fast food joint that served burgers and shakes most notably.

How long was I out? Melissa wondered. Somehow, she and Youmu found a place to get milkshakes, got the milkshakes, and sat down while Youmu rambled about red beans and Melissa was zoned out the entire time. She looked back at Youmu to see if she was still talking about red beans.

"... if you mix red bean paste with agar and sugar, you can get-"

"Youmu? Y-Youmu, Youmu? Can I pause real quick?" Melissa made a time-out sign with her hands, "How the hell do you know all this shit about red beans?"

"Oh. Lady Yuyuko had me grow some a long time ago. I wasn't very good at first, but I got better. She also had me grow a lot of other stuff, too."

"Eugh, that bitch," Melissa muttered, "Remember what I said about that cunt... She's a bitch, not a good person."

"She wasn't mean though," Youmu argued. "She just was very hungry all the time. She's a very nice person...."

"Don't you remember the shit she said back when I met her?" Melissa retorted, "She was an absolute bitch. Maybe sheused to be nice, but now she's a cunt. Your problem is you're too nice, you let bitches like her walk all over you."

"... But...." Youmu thought about what Melissa said. "... It's not okay to be mean to someone just because they were mean to you, though...."

"It is okay to be mean to them for that! They were mean first! If she's gonna be a bitch to you, she doesn't deserve you being nice to her," Melissa scoffed, "Listen.. You can be nice and shit, but.. [iYou[/i] gotta come first, everyone else is secondary. Is that selfish? Nah, it just means you're looking out for yourself. As long as you're not doing evil shit, you're fine."

"... Lady Yuyuko's friend Yukari said that those kinds of people made my family leave me."

"Yukari also drowned a bunch of kids right infront of me because she got a little pissed off," Melissa said, "She told you that kind of shit so you would let her and Yuyucunt walk all over you. She said what she had to to make you.. Complacent. There are shitty people that say shitty things to get you to do what they want. You gotta always look out for that."

Youmu tried to think back to the day when Yukari told her that her family went away. The memory was very faint at this point- monotonous days of gardening had whittled away at much of her early memories.

"... Maybe you're right," Youmu concluded. "But I don't think I'll be able to do that."

"Tell me about it." A nazi soldier beside Melissa seemed to be enjoying his own little milkshake. "One moment, you're in America looking for a terrorist. The next moment, you're zapped into a place full of blacks and jews and all manner of other people- and everyone's okay with it! And then you get attacked by some girl, and then someone takes your gun away, and then you almost die in a strange red smoke, and now you're supposed to be fighting for Britain?! Honestly, I think the government is playing a practical joke on me or something at this point...."

"Welcome to the Clash, asshole. Want a tip for not getting killed?" Melissa switched over to German, "Stop being a Nazi, dickhead. You will get killed within the next week if you keep that fucking armband. Trust me, it's not worth keeping the nice uniform."

The soldier glanced at Melissa, then to his armband, then to the ceiling, recounting the events that had just happened to him. "... Fuck the government," he decided at last, casting the armband aside. "I'm done being thrown around like a ragdoll."

"That's the spirit," Melissa gestured her milkshake towards the now ex-Nazi, "Just stay out of fucking everything, and you'll do just fine in the Clash."

"I'm done with everything," the ex-Nazi bemoaned. "So much strange stuff happened in the last three hours I might just take to living in the middle of nowhere. Know any good places?"

"Nope, but that's a pretty good idea," Melissa sipped on her milkshake.

"I've got an idea- ON THE FUCKING GROUND, LOSER!"

The ex-Nazi soldier yelped as he was tackled to the ground. "That's for almost shooting me last time, you dumb bitch!"

"NOT AGAIN! AND BY THE SAME PERSON, NO LESS!" The hapless former soldier tried to cover his vitals as Marisa began pounding the daylights out of her former aggressor.

"Oh, well done, Marisa! You caught a virgin!" Mima materialized beside her daughter. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Go on," Marisa threatened, pointing her reactor right between the former Nazi's legs. "Tell me where Remi is, and I'll let you go!"

"WHO THE HELL IS 'REMI,'" the former soldier cried out.

"Don't fucking laser his balls!" Melissa yelled, "I'm trying to eat here, god dammit! Fuckin', Remi? Yeah, I know that bitch, she was way over there." Melissa pointed in the direction she came from, "She was being a cunt, doing cunt shit. Over there.. So go away." Melissa didn't know who 'Remi' was, but really just wanted to enjoy her milkshake... That and she didn't want this poor guy to lose his testicles.

"That ain't right...." Marisa got up from the mentally scarred soldier and focused her attention on Melissa. "Reimu's a cunt. Remi's a bitch. So....." She pointed her reactor at Melissa this time. "Where the hell is Remilia?!"

"Wait, the bitch that Cunt was talking about?" Melissa blinked, "Cunt said she was in some big, red mansion or some shit nearby."

"Everyone knows that," Marisa snapped. "But where exactly is it?! Because I can't find shit in this city!"

"Probably over there! There was some fucking red mist shit over there awhile ago, other than that, literally nobody else fucking knows. So quit ruining my goddamn milkshake," Melissa huffed.

"Oh." Marisa lowered her reactor. "... Well, in that case, thank you very much and have a nice day!" The witch winked as the duo began to leave the joint.

"See, Youmu? That's how you be nice while caring about yourself first. I saved that guy's balls," Melissa educated before leaning over and asking, "Hey, guy.. You alright?"

"... What is this madness...." The poor ex-soldier whimpered.

"Welcome to the Clash, dickhead. Get used to it. You're welcome for saving your balls," Melissa replied.

Youmu leaned over Melissa's shoulder to see what was actually going on, spending the entire time confused as to why Marisa suddenly came in out of nowhere.

"... That was an awful lot of yelling," Youmu noted. "Is yelling required?"

"Eh, not always. I think the kid just had, like.. A mental disability or something," Melissa shrugged.

"Oh." Youmu looked back at her milkshake, now half empty. "... A lot of people say I have one or two of those. Is there a way of knowing?"

"They're a bunch of assholes," Melissa quickly rejected the notion, "You just don't know some shit, and you had assholes taking advantage of you. You don't have a fucking disability. Anyone who says you do is a piece of shit."

"... Is this seat open?" Two more bedraggled soldiers entered. "We've had a long day lately."

"Like I told the guy on the ground, welcome to the Clash, dickheads," Melissa then gestured to the seat, allowing them to sit down.

Promptly, the two soldiers placed themselves on the seat beside Melissa and entered a deep existential conversation. Youmu thought it soudned intelligent, but had no idea what they were saying. "... I wish I could talk like that."

"You'll be able to," Melissa muttered, "But you don't need to, because this is fucking stupid to listen to, oh my god! Can you two fucking crybaby assholes shut up about life or some shit? Listening to this for like two seconds is worse than getting my goddamn hand chopped off, and that's happened a billion fucking times. Boohoo, everything is chaotic, get the fuck over yourselves! If you don't want to die, get rid of the stupid-ass Nazi shit and just stay out of all the fucking stuff happening. Go fucking.. Build a cottage or some shit like that guy, I don't fucking know. God dammit."

Youmu turned back down drink her milkshake, only to pause. Out of mostly boredom, she had become acutely aware of her surroundings, and took note of the sudden darkened area around her and her milkshake. "Must be a cloud," the half phantom reasoned. "I wonder if it's going to be in the shape of something...."

Youmu turned to gaze out the window for cloudgazing before staring at the face of a second Zitadelle. A quick flash from its single red eye temporarily blinded the half phantom. When Youmu blinked herself back to awareness, the robot's two weapons were pointed directly at her.

Promptly, a siren blared from the listening devices of the two Nazis who just entered. "Enemies of the Household," one of them figured, before both pointed their guns at Youmu and Melissa. "You two will be coming with us."

"Hey now," The first ex-Nazi who came in tapped his former comrade on the shoulder. "Aren't you getting tired of all this nonsesnse to-"

"Questioning authority is tantamount to treason." One of the two turned their weapons on the ex-Nazi. "Congratulations, idiot. You've made yourself enemy of authority."

"Yeah, that was kinda dumb," Melissa agreed, "I told you to stay out of shit, man. Always ends badly when you get involved."

Youmu eyed the Zitadelle and the two soldiers, slowly putting her arms up in surrender. But at the same time, her right arm started to bend for one of her two blades, and Youmu slowly secured a grip over the hilt of o-

Thwack!

Youmu gasped as a knife handle stuck out of her milkshake, now impaled against the wall.

"That's as far as you're going to go, little half-dead piece of bird poop." The cold and harsh voice was unmistakable to the half phantom.

"Hello, Kuntpaku. Don't think for one second I'd forget about this." Sakuya turned away from the Nazi soldiers and the general public, unveiling her mask to show Youmu her heavily scarred face.

"... So you're willing to say 'cunt', but then you go and say 'bird poop'? What the fuck?" Melissa blinked. This was clearly the most important topic to discuss.

"Take them to the camps," Sakuya ordered the soldiers, readjusting her mask. "I'll deal with Konpaku myself."

"... Hey, dumb bitch, did you forget I'm the one that fucked up your face?" Melissa waved a hand, "Are you fuckin'.. Stupid? Are you fuckin' dumb? Is that it? Like.. It was very obviously me that fucking bled on your face and screwed it up."

".... Yeah. I'd personally be more angry with the person who actually messed me up rather than someone else who just ex-"

"May you all shut up?!" Sakuya lifted Youmu into the air, blade against the half-phantom's throat. "Hurry up and take them away, you two! Or I'll have mistress see that you're a part of her dinner, too!"

"Let g-" Youmu began to struggle in Sakuya's grip before screaming the next moment, with her left shoulder beginning to stain with red.

"That's for the first cut," Sakuya hissed into Youmu's ear. "The rest of you, go!"

Melissa bit down on her tongue and spat the blood produced towards the side of Sakuya's mask she saw before where her face was not 'fucked up'.

Too absorbed in her victory over Youmu, the mask began to melt once the spitwad made contact with the mask. "... I think I'm done here," the maid reasoned, vanishing the next instant and taking the half phantom with her. Outside, more and more Nazis lined up, among whom were the new robotic ubersoldaten, some hefty supersoldaten, and even another Zitadelle. Late to the party, the new forces seemed to have swapped out their old swastikas with a new symbol unfamiliar to Melissa- but no doubt it was probably the emblem of the Scarlet Devil family.

"You can't take us all," one of the soldiers gloated. "Give up."

"Wait, wh- YOUMU!" Melissa screamed, looking around in a short panic before glaring outside. The one benefit of Youmu being around was there was nothing to hold her back. She could be completely unhinged without any regards to injury. "I'll fucking kill every single one of you pieces of shit out there!" Melissa screamed. She threw herself out of the window, the glass shattering and slicing her skin open all over her body. Before the wounds could close back up, the enraged veteran threw herself onto the nearest soldier, tackle hugging him and covering him in hungry blood.

"Gah!" The Nazi (or perhaps it would be more accurate to call them "Scarlet Devil") soldier yelled as his armor and- to an extent- his flesh was completely devoured by Melissa's dangerous blood. This prompted a violent outburst from all the armed enemies. Of course, taking hint of Melissa's very dangerous body, they opted instead for weapons that could hopefully mitigate this deadly corrosive fluid. Specifically, the new argent-powered weapons were put into effect, as robotic ubersoldaten fired pulses of high-temperature plasma at Melissa, while the Zitadelle activated its flamer.

Considering the relatively slow speed of the ubersoldaten's plasma attacks, they were easily dodged as Melissa purposely threw herself in the path of the flamethrower. She knew it would hurt like absolute hell, but burning her flesh off was great for bleeding. She let out a shrill, ear-piercing, "FUUUUUUUUUCK!" before pouncing on the Zitadelle, clawing her way up its leg and bleeding along the way. Her hair almost looked like it was only slowly burning away as it tried to grow back as it was being burned, but eventually it was gone as the bleeding, flaming maniac crawled up the machine whilst screaming in pain.

A supersoldat bellowed in promordial rage as it charged is lasergewehrs, aiming for Melissa with its twin set of powerful lasers. The heavily armed soldier fired his weapon, unleashing a punishing beam of charged particles at Melissa on the Zitadelle (along with a very, very cool sound).

"F-FUUUCK! SHIT!" Melissa cried out, her body grip on the zitadelle weakening. She was not going to get off of this robot until it was dead. Luckily for Melissa, this wouldn't be very long, as the Supersoldat's own laser melted right through the rigid titanium face of the huge robot, boiling away its armor, melting away its facial sensor, and vaporizing its computers and regulators. The Zitadelle trembled as its inner mechanics started to fail. With systems failing, its arms exploded off of the enormous robot (demolishing any Scarlet Devil soldier in the way of the shrapnel), followed by a quick drip of its energy blood, before the entire robot burst into shrapnel and robotic energy fluid, destroying any soldier or robot that was too close.

Melissa's battered and charred body was trying to heal itself as it was flung towards one of the supersoldaten which she clung to upon impact. She feverishly clawed at its face like an animal while her entire body oozed blood onto the machine-man. The enhanced supersoldaten roared as its face began to melt, with the Lasergewehrs it carried fell to the ground with a clank.

"Keep shooting," one of the soldiers yelled, picking up the flamer of the now-dead Zitadelle. "Do not stop until she is dead!"

"... Hey, buddy." The first Nazi that entered the restaraunt tapped his comrade on the shoulder. "... Mind if I can have a gun?"

"Oh, of course." Without a second thought, a hand gun was tossed to the first ex-Nazi.

"Gee, thanks!" As a means to thank his former-comrade, the first Nazi opened fire on the very soldier who gave him the gun.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Fuck the government!" Arming himself with the assault rifle of the dead soldier in the bar, the former soldier riddled the Scarlet Devil soldier with lead, making a bolt for the exit. This sudden mutiny drew the attention of the small military attacking Melissa, drawing some fire away from her. "Fuck all the governments!"

"After him!" A few soldiers and robots materialized on the fleeing runaway.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?" Melissa screamed furiously. She grabbed at her left bicep and yanked, pulling her left arm out of its socket before ripping the limb off entirely. She trembled, falling to one knee and agony before chucking the limb like a boomerang. It landed infront of the group that had abandoned fighting her just as a black tendril shot from where the arm should have been to the appendage, splattering anyone near its trajectory with blood while impaling those in its way before ripping the arm back to the body it belonged to.

Nazis and robots would melt from Melissa's bodily attacks, and one by one, the robots, mutants, and enemy soldiers would find themselves devoured, ripped and torn, until Melissa' arm was reattached to her body.

At this point, the Scarlet Devil soldiers figured that maybe attacking Melissa wasn't such a great idea. "Retreat! Retreat!" The enemy forces began to flee, with the remaining Zitadelle keeping fire at Melissa, too slow to make a meaningful retreat.

"NO RETREAT! WHAT KIND OF PUSSY ASS FUCKING NAZIS ARE YOU!?" Melissa roared. Thankfully for the men, the zitadelle was a good distraction for their escape as she lunged for the machine. She would show the slow robot no mercy.

The Zitadelle's alternating attacks between flamer and homing missile were no match to keep up with Melissa. The lumbering robot's limited memory and RAM forced the robot to strategize the best it could to extend its longevity, trying to position its parts as far away from Melissa as possible, using the missile launcher as its primary fire and its flamer as a means to deter Melissa from coming into too close contact.

The missiles only delayed Melissa's eventual contact with the Zitadelle. Each missile that struck her only blew her back and flung her into a wall before any detatched body parts snapped back into place and she was ready to begin the chase again. When she eventually got close enough for the flamethrower to be effective, the machine learned that no amount of extruciating pain would keep Melissa from expressing her rage as she leapt for its leg.

As the leg of the machine desintegrated, the Zitadelle lost balance and fell over, crushing its flamer arm with its own bulk. Unable to righten itself, the missile arm uselessly fired missiles at nothing in particular, only being able to accomplish spinning the Zitadelle like a giant mechanical top.

Melissa kept a few inches distance, watching the machine spin for a moment before ramming her fist into the robot's head as it spun around to meet her. It may have shattered every bone in her fist, broke her forearm, and tore her ligaments, but she had long since stopped caring about unimportant details such as that.

As Melissa's fist disappeared into the Zitadelle's face, the robot's dense titanium shell began to melt away and, along with it, the delicate computer chip of the Zitadelle. The crippled robot spasmed and twitched for a second or so before all movements ceased.

Melissa pulled her arm out of the gaping hole that was the robot's head and stood nude (After all, her clothes would've burned off very early in the fight) in the center of the carnage she had left from the entire battle, shakily breathing in and out as she collected her thoughts from the haze of fury she had been in.

"... I'm gonna rip what's left of your face off and force it down your fucking throat," Melissa seethed, referencing Sakuya as she turned away from the battle and began backtracking to find the Scarlet Devil Mansion, "I'm coming, Youmu."

======================================================

"... And if anyone asks, it's to meet the food demands."

Remilia adjusted her cap as she briefed the Fairy maids on why Remilia suddenly had an army. "That insufferable woman wants me to waste resources on Flandre? Fine. I'll just order everything in surplus."

"Where do we store the rations," a fairy maid asked, hauling a victim of Remilia's mini-holocause across the floor, throat torn open by Sakuya (before she left to find Youmu).

"Anywhere out of sight would work. The wine cellar would probably be a good place." Of course, storing the corpses (and cattle) in the basement was a foolish idea. Flandre would make short work of them, surely. If not, then she'd most certainly question the "morales" of cramming dozens of people into a single room for slaughter, and will most certainly confront Remilia about this. "... Which wouldn't be a problem if she could stay in her room like an average child."

"What would you like for desserts, mistress?" Sakuya appeared at Remilia's side. "We have an excess of marshmallow, if it helps you decide."

"Marshmallow? Since when?" Remilia, confused turned to address her maid.

"Since now."

Remilia took note at how pleased Sakuya seemed with herself. "Well, if we have an excess of marshmallow, then perhaps a chocolate fountain would be nice. I'd like the marshmallows pre-skewered, too. I don't want to trouble myself with having to do the work."

"Of course." Remilia turned her attention back to the fairy maid. "Anyway, in case you haven't figured it out, even the most reviled youkai would find a yard full of corpses unsightly. For the sake of my image, I highly suggest...."

Certain that Remilia was done with her, Sakuya reappeared before Youmu, bound and hung from the ceiling like a side of beef at a butcher house. "You hear that, you little piece of shit? Mistress wants her marshmallows pre-skewered." The maid held a blade up to Youmu's forearm. "Now, which bones do you want to sacrifice for the mistress' toothpicks? A rib? A femur? Maybe even your skull. You won't be needing it with that peabrain of yours, would you now?" Youmu struggled and screamed, which of course came out muffled.

Sakuya traced a blade over Youmu's throat, chest, stomach, wrists, and thighs. "And of course, vampires eat blood. Where would you want the first cut, I wonder? What would you be needing the least?"

Like a frantic worm, Youmu wriggled in fear from where she hung, screaming and bawling as the maid predicted her cuts.

"... Oh. I know." Sakuya's regular blue eyes flickered into her sadistic and psychotic red as she undid the bonds around her ankles, letting Youmu's skirt fall over her face as Sakuya lightly traced a blade over her pelvis. "You'll need this the least, won't you? Afterall, who could love am imbecile like you? Especially enough to the point to taking your virginity?" The maid laughed maniacally as Youmu screamed in protest.

"Oh, we're going to have a lot of fun together." Sakuya traced her blade over Youmu's scalp. "Lots and lots of fun."

“Well, like it or not, you’re my patient right now. So hold your stump still so I can sew this thing back on!” Dr. Finkelstein griped.

Infinite

The space around Infinite warped as the jackal watched Galeem annihilate all sapient life on the planet. Infinite descended towards the ground. Touching down, Infinite walked towards the floating form of the seraph-like being.

“Your power is immeasurable, I can tell,” Infinite said, looking up towards Galeem, thrusting his arms out towards him. “It’s clear that you have the power to give and take life. But you are merely one being. Know this: there are those who still survive, and when they gather the strength to take you down, they will make sure that you fall.”

Under his helmet, Infinite smiled. “Of course, all that can change if you had one with power over space itself as an enforcer. I am, after all, a mercenary first and foremost. I guarantee… I can be of infinite aid to quashing any pathetic dregs of resistance that stand in your way.”

Infinite looked up at Galeem.

Galeem was silent.

Galeem’s core began to glow.

And the last thing Infinite heard was a breathy, angelic voice ringing through his head, like a chorus surrounding him, judging him, oppressing him.

A slim form illuminated under the halloween moonlight,Slapstick appeared to be stacking Jack-O lanturns, as well as constructing crude scarecrows.

"Thanks for not being screamy and bitey at me for using you to practice on".

The Jack-O lanturn in his hand shrugged their roots their triangle eyes looking somewhat apathetic., "Eh A lanturn's life is quick,no longer than the breath of a candlewick,we'll grow back next year"

The toon placed the vegtable on the head stand, before raising the Warhammer to give it a whack, about to strike the vegtable let out a terrifying squeal, Slapstick chest cavity noticably shark up as he leapt back and gasped for air.

The lanturn gave a cheeky grin, giving a wink with it's circular eye.

The toon's clawed fingers curled around the handle of the Warhammer of Zillyhoo, before taking a step forward, giving a running start, and running at he pumpkin, before slamming the hammer into the ground before the pumpkin and sending the toon high up.

Slapstick paused as he looked down, still going up as he passed through a cloud getting vaporous facial hair.

"Methinks I swung a bit too hard". he commented before plummeting to the earth, raising the hammer as he smashed into the ground.

"I'd give it a 8/10, your footwork was a bit off on the landing.."A lanturn commented.

"I guess I should work on my kick-ass kicks then" The toon commented looking at his pointy shoes.

"Slaps-ick!"called a voice not that far away.

"You hear something?"Slasptick asked the patch.

"Don't have ears".

"Neither do I but I'm not making excuses!"The clown jibbed.

There was a dull thump as something ran into the iron gate surrounding the field.

The toon tiptoed comically over to the gate, where he found Clement wedged into the bars, apparently trying to go through the gate.

"Slaps-ick!"they cheerily stated.

"Hey there little.....thing"Slapstick stated, before flicking one of the bars Clement was trying to go through, "Can't help but notice you're stuck in a fence".

"Its you!,Its the pale thing with no nose!"Clemetn reinterated before straining with thier body and popping the hinges off the gate very poor, and ungainly carrying the fence with them.

"Thats.....one way to describe me". Slapstick offered, before getting out of the way as Clement swung towards him, trying to avoid getting speared by the large points adorning the gate.

Clement flopped forward and fell down, kicking at the dirt for a moment before detaching themselves from the gate, and plodding towards the cartoon.

"Whose lost child is this!?"He called out, cautiously avoiding the soft bodied creature.

Peacock clambered into the pumpkin patch. "Hey, Clemmy, don't run off like that! Hey Slapstick. HEY, GET BACK HERE!"

Clement dashed around to the back of Slapstick to avoid Peacock.

"I am not here!"They cleverly announced.

"...Oh so thats, what he meant by socketed girl with eyes on her arms". Slapstick came to a realization, "Well that means we all didin't get got, and that we can go get the ones who dun, got us gotted!"The toon said.

"Well, sorta kinda. This fella knows Claymoore, who I'm sure ya remember," Peacock replied. "Anyway, we was just uh, well, we were supposed to be lookin' for other survivors of that freakshow lightshow back in California. I guess you lived that too, huh?"

"Only on the outside.."Slapstick placed Clement down and unscrewed the top of his head, wretched weeping and voices of self hatred were heard, blames of not being strong enough,blames of how a more serious hero could have done something, before he screwed the top back on, and giving his best fake grin.

Clement leaned against the side of Slapstick's leg, arough approximation of a hug.

"But hey, I got blessed by some sort of comic humor, so there's that,though I supposed he might be peeved since I didn't at all do what he told me......also two new melee weapons".

"Hows it going for you Cokapie?" Slapstick asked.

"Eh... Well, this kid whose bro I was trying to find," Peacock said, shrugging. "She got blasted by the mutant fireworks. So now I gotta find where she went, too."

"I'm guessing whatever got them, will more or less come to get us..."Slapstick looked at the horizon, "Thats why I'm here,might was well get into a shme strong enough to hold against whatever it is".

"Yeah... even Marie couldn't wipe out all of humanity at once. This thing? It means business."

Peacock turned to Slapstick. "So, what's on the docket, Slapsy? Coupla clowns like us oughta get right down to the funny business," she said.

"Well I figure, besides me you and Clem here, there are bound to be quite a pissed pavilon of people, they're gonna have to go through here,I'll give them the howdoyado, and see if they know anything, in the meanwhile, because awful things tend to come to us rather than the other way around,I'm gonna see if I can't catch a chucklefuck who knows something,in the meantime I'm gonna practice my 'non-verbal communication'. Slapstick gestured to the field.

Slapstick cracked his pointed fingers, "So for now the usual, protect the town,get swole,and try terribly hard not to die until we get information".

"Sound good?"Slapstick held out his left hand for a high five.

"Yeah. It'd be nice to actually protect somethin' after a slump of a slew of threats slippin' through the cracks," Peacock replied, obliging Slapstick.

"I wanna do the help too!"Clement announced, forming their point into a crude hand.

Slapstick inhaled through his teeth, "Uh.yeah,you can be.....lookout, yell look out when you see somethings suspicious".

Slapstick poked Clement's head, it left an easy indent, he gave a look at Peacock, and mouthed "What?"

She shrugged in response. "Hey I got an idea," Peacock said, before reaching into her hat. She pulled out a kitchen knife and some duct tape. She took the kitchen knife and depressed the handle into Clement's squishy head, then taped it securely onto their helmet. She stood back and admired her handiwork.

"This,this could work". Slapstick considered scratching his chin

"Don't need gas, either, unlike a chainsaw," Peacock said, nodding.

"Alright so um..."Slapstick stooped down "First things first is sizing up your opponent".

"You are tall!"Clement announced.

"Naw, what he means is gettin' a sense of what the bad guys can do. Like, if the bad guys got one of these," Peacock said, whipping out a revolver, "you better know how to dodge a bullet."

"Bull-eet?"Clement inquired.

"Its something that can make a big hole or small hole in something,which is bad.."Slapstick explained,before Clement walked forward and bashed their head into Slapstick, effecitvly stabbing him.

"Like that?".

"Similar but no". Slapstick sighed before the puncture wound in his leg fizzled out like a deflated ballon and he balanced on one leg.

Popping outa new leg Slapstick continued, "Part of fighting is not only knowing how much damage you can give someone,but how much damage someone could give you,also puns".Slapstick added.

"Puns?"

"Puns are important" Slapstick said without elaborating anymore.

The toon took a few steps away, "Alright I want you to try that again".

Slapstick took out what looked to be a plastic hollow baseball bat.

Clement ran forward,Slapstick tapped them lightly on the head.

"Dead". he stated, "While running in is fun you also have to realize that the mook you're trying to off also has something to off you.."

"What?"Clement asked.

Slapstick sighed, "Well for now, lets start on your power, I want you to go and try it on pumpkins, and I want you to try until you can slice them open in one hit.."

"Just apply pressure!" Slapstick said giving Clement a little nudge as they walked into the field.

"Presser!"Clement repeated trying to stab a pumpkin.

Clement strolled through the field,kinda headbutting pumpkins.

It was soon apparent however they were not alone,something mischevious loomed, as three figures stalked forwards splitting up almost mechanically as they galivanted towards the three in the field.

"Slab-stick?"Clement asked, as the figured got near, and the clay being was partially correct, it did indeed look like the Marvel hero, though its hair was bright red,its suit bright white,and there was little if an humour in the clown's eyes, as it held up a slightly reddened mallet and with no hesitation smacked Clement on the head with a very audible "THOCK!"

"I'm right here.."Slapstick said waving his hand over Peacock's peacock eyes.

Peacock blinked, then turned to Slapstick. "Oh. So you are."

"Wait if thats me....and I'm me". Slapstick began to put it togather.

"...Then who the heck is that palooka?" Peacock asked, pointing at the other Slapstick.

"Better yet who are they?"The toon asked as two more Slapstick's strode into view, One was monochomatic,with dark-black hair,eyes,pants and glove and the rest was entirely white,the other was more disturbing, bright green hair,with black scera eyes with small painted on points at the top and bottom of the eyes, a red overcoat, with a polka-dot tie.

"Gall-dang cosmic bootleggers". Slapstick took out the Warhammer, "Gotta say not flattered by this imitation,they rain out of ink on that o-"Slapstick began before a grenade was lobbed by the mimish one at him.

The Odd- more dapper looking clone took out what appeared to be a sledgehammer, and ran forward before swinging it down and smashing it into Slapstick's head.

A large bump swelled out of the clown's head, pushing the head of the hammer up with it.

"Just a funny feeling".The toon said before knocking the sledgehammer up, with his Warhammer,and ducking forward, before jabbing his sharp fingers into the other's eyes.

The clone fell back, uncharactristically silent for a Slapstick,while the other produced what appeared to be an transparent mallet and tried to side smash it into Peacock's head. Peacock held up her chainsaw and parried, the saw blades buzzing against the mallet's handle.

The one attacking Clement seemed to have various generic moveset, overhead swing, side swing,sharp elbow,and mallet thrust.

All of which was clear Clement was unprepared for as mallet sized indents appeared on their body

From the center of the field there was a rumbling followed, by a very annoyed grumbling large foot falls were seen as the bulbous opponent made his way, his ungreatful and uncustmerly manner being shown as he ground pumpkins underneath his crude feet, a massive bruise colored purple pumkin, with eyes glowing with discontent,browns furrowed in disgust.

"...Ooookay. Never mind," Peacock muttered.

"GIVE ME THE SOULS!" the Pumkin boomed.

"Well, I guess that answers the question of what the heck they're after," Peacock remarked.

"Fricken Charlie Brown owes me so much money"Slapstick chided.

"Alright, it looks like they can fight but only in a certain way, Clem!, Pretend his head is a pumpkin!"Slapstick shouted.

Peacock, on the other hand, whistled, and Tommy Ten-Tons fell from the sky and slammed into the earth. "These mugs givin' ya trouble, boss?"

"Yeah. Lay the smackdown on all of 'em except the funny-lookin' one," Peacock replied, wiggling her eyebrows at Slapstick.

The Pumkin set his greedy eyes on Tommy, "Give me the WEIGHT!"He boomed reaching forward to grasp the cartoonish being.

"GOURD night," Tommy grunted, winding up his fist and loosing an uppercut to slam the pumpkin's palm with enough force to shatter bones.

A huge hole appeared in the Pumkin's palm as bone matter, and golden liquid spewed out,the vegtable contorted his face into something resembling pain, before curling his fingers into a fist and slamming them into the weight.

"NO.I DON'T WANT THAT!"

Tommy took the full brunt of the impact; being a ten-ton weight, he experienced little disfigurement, but the force of the giant pumpkin was... enough to smash the pumpkin's own fist.

"Youse gonna take this fight seriously now, or what?" Tommy asked, golden goo spilling all over his face. The muscular weight wiped his face off with his forearm.

Mr.Pumkin charged forward opening his jaw wide to bite down on the offending weight

"Youse really lookin' for a dental bill, huh?" Tommy asked.

Slapstick looked over at the Pumkin's gaping maw, than at Clement, and quickly sprinted over to Clement, and grabbed their assailant by the shoulders, and was about to huck 'em into the Pumkin's mouth when he was blind-sided by a swift gut shot by the black eyed Slapstick, causing him to drop the clone on the clone and wheeze heavily.

Above the clone, another shadow formed, and Andy Anvil fell upon the black-eyed Slaps.

As the Black eye'd Slapstick's limbs flailed like a dying spider Slasptick whacked the 'It' Slasptick with his hammer on the head, stunned him.

"Mind if I get a leg up?"Slapstick asked before hopping on Andy's head and hucking the clone into the Pumkin's mouth.

The gigantic vegtable gagged, and stumbled back.

"Hey c'mon I don't taste that funny!"He jibbed

Andy felt his victim quiver underneath him, and stood up as the black-eyed Slapstick pushed him off. "Uh, boss?" Andy asked, looking around, but Peacock wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"You know this whole thing has got me thinkin'" Slapstick postulated staring down at the other Slapstick from ontop of the Anvil's head.

"If I'm Slapstick, and You're Slapstick....whose driving the car!"

BEEP! BEEP!

Peacock's automobile careened into the black-eyed Slapstick, smashing him into the pavement like a pancake. Peacock's car screeched and turned around, and Peacock stood up, pulling out two tommy guns, firing one at the Pumkin, and the other at the remaining Slapstick clone.

The Gerudo, Demon and Elf entered the festive atmosphere of Halloween Town, bewildered by the many bizarre creatures sprawling about the residential. “So...what do we do now?” asked Ganon. “I dunno. Maybe look around town a bit? Find some other Clashers? At this point we’re so disoriented we really don’t know what to do. ‘Specially after what happened a long while ago.” suggested Bendy. “Then it is settled then! We shall survey the town in search of Clashers! And possibly Bookwielders as well, if any are present!” boasted Ganon. From this, Bendy and Ganon split up, Hitomi having to stay with Ganon because...well he was handcuffed to him, he didn't exactly have much of a choice.

“I tell you, the Bookwielders are DEAD. Gone! They have ceased to exist! You’ll have no luck in finding them, let alone any other ‘Clashers’ to come at your aid!” exclaimed Hitomi, being dragged by the King of Evil as he wandered the town of Halloween. Ganon stopped in his tracks once Hitomi finished his first exclamation, holding his fists tight in anger, as he REALLY wasn't trying to think of that right now. “Even if you do find other Clashers, what do you think THEY’LL do? They have about as much idea as to what to do with me as you, which is to say they’ll have no idea. At all. By any metric.” continued Hitomi, his voice getting condescending as he resumed talking to the oblivious Prince of Darkness. Ganon turned his head, his face rather underwhelming with what Hitomi was actually aiming to do with Ganon while he was captive. His intention was to annoy him, but from his expression, he seemed mildly irked rather than burning with anger.

“Honestly, you Omniversual Criminals of the Clash are all the same, aren't you? Us finding other Clashers has nothing to do with YOU! We need to find some sort of idea as to what in the name of Harkinian’s Beard that was that wiped everyone out, and HOW we can save them!” spoke Ganon, semi-sourly. Ganon turned back around and proceeded further into town. “Save them? They’re dead, Ganon. Once someone is dead, you can’t bring them back. I assumed this was universally understood by all living beings.” remarked Hitomi. “WE can bring people back from the dead where I come from.” argued Ganon. “Yes, where YOU’RE from.” spat Hitomi. “Understand me, there’s no point in trying to find anyone. There’s no point in handcuffing me, and there’s certainly no hope in trying to find out whoever or whatever killed your friends. They’re gone. Hope is gone. End of story.”

“Why on EARTH are you still talking?” complained Ganon. “Once those who you surround with such solace disappear, you have no purpose anymore. Accept that.” said Hitomi. “Trust me, I’ve been in the same situation before.” Ganon stopped once again. “Don’t you ever wonder why I’m claiming chunks of universes for my own? Why I’m like the way I am?” asked Hitomi. “I had a kingdom once. A real one. I had friends, millions of supporters and followers who all loved me very dearingly. In a way, they were like your own friends, showing you affection even when you were...quite frankly a massive nuisance.”

“One day, however...someone took them away from me.” Ganon stayed quiet while Hitomi laid out his past in the form of words towards the Gerudo King. “It happened within the span of a split second. Everyone that I had ever been acquainted with, gone. Everyone had vanished. The only one who remained was a person by the name of…’Vinesauce’, I believe. A person whose forms extends from the Cyberverse to the real world. He had no idea what he had done, but when I explained to him he acted in denial saying ‘I resent that. And I resent you.’ I left him alone from that point forward, knowing he was far from negotiating with. As quickly as he came, he left. Me and my creator were all that who were left. Eventually, not even she could stand to stay here, and she left me as well. I was alone by myself. No friends, no company. I eventually accepted that there was no hope for this world. This was no hope for me.”

“Yet even still, you claimed those universes like you did.” growled Ganon. “I saw the Dimensional Clash as an opportunity to expand a new kind of kingdom, one that I would guard with my entire life. True my methods in creating such a kingdom were...quite unsavory, at least that’s what many people, including the Bookwielders, have said about my actions, but it was all for a good cause. I want my world to thrive again. I don’t want to have a purposeless life any longer. I want to be...useful.” Ganon related with Hitomi. Was it a sob-story to get him to go on his side, or was this a lone elf from a forgotten universe, struggling to find a way to string it back together? Truth or lies? Sincerness or Slander?

He looked back into Hitomi’s face, seeing a look of genuine depression on his face. Ganon’s frown fell, and a similar look formed on his facial structure. “...I felt the same way. The only reason why I dealt with being a Bookwielder was because I wanted to be useful, but I saw that I wasn't going to go about that if I didn't put forth effort in doing so. I am a terrible, very uneducated villain, I will admit that to the fullest of my extent as a thinking, breathing creature of this world, and so when I was given the opportunity by the Judge, I saw this as a shining chance to finally be useful, to finally be purposeful!” lamented the King of Evil. “I changed my ways too late. Now my friends, my companions, everyone that I had built this reconcealment of trust and friendship with, is now gone. So much for putting in the effort.” Hitomi perked up a small margin when Ganon explained his story, his little elf ears even giving a cute twitch as this happened. “Perhaps we’re not so different, you and I.” spoke Hitomi. Ganon’s depressing demeanor turned into a blank expression. “Yeah, I guess so.” agreed Ganon.

Both of their depressing states diminished at this very moment, as they stared into each others eyes.

The Benefactor woke on the leaf-littered ground, underneath a gnarled and twisted tree in a forest plentiful in them. She darted her head back and forth, looking surprised that they had gone through such a transition to such a strange land. As she got to her feet, she realized that her attire had changed some. Her previous clothes, a tidy work-dress with a short skirt, had been replaced by a black, short gown, its sleeves drooping at her wrists. She jumped back at the changes with a small yelp, bumping the hat on her head-

Ernette realized that there was something off with the crown, too. As she felt it over, she found it to have shifted into a black, pointed version of what it once was, several little jewels still embezzled in the brim.

"...Clara?!" she called out, looking through the forest with confusion and worry. After that terrible cataclysm, she wasn't sure if they had simply been taken here or...

"...Am I the only one left?" Ernette mumbled with a quiver, her chest heaving already. This couldn't be happening, She thought, her breathing becoming erratic as she pushed herself back against a tree, trying to try and stem a panic attack in this most trying of times.

"A-Anyone?!" Ernette yelled out with a terrified tone, glancing about with the fear of being utterly alone.

"Hello?" A rather strained voice replied, followed by the crunching of leaves as its owner tried to remain hidden.

"H-Hello?" Ernette pulled herself back up as she began to fall, looking about with both worry and happiness that she was not the only one left.

Ernette looked to the log, taking a few steps as she responded with a whimper, "I-I'm Ernette... Who are you?"

"I am Molota Nerdith." The voice responded with her tone revealing she seemed pleased that someone had asked who she was. The top of the figure's head then appeared from behind the log. "Why are you hewe?"

Ernette hesitated at the sight of the somewhat injured-looking child. "I... Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"I think so." Molota responded, she looked at her hands that seemed to be rather cut up and down at her dress, with seemed to be splattered with blood and a a few feathers.

"Are you sure?" Ernette crouched down to the child to look at her dress and the blood on it, "If you're not, you can tell me."

Molota looked herself over before looking at Ernette. She had managed to make this form a few times before. Ernette seemed more whole than her. Molota looked at Ernette's hands and arms before looking back at her own. "No, I don't think this is wight." Molota responded, more upset that her form wasn't fully complete rather than the fact she was effectivly a walking corpse.

"What's not right? I can try and help you," Ernette murmured kindly, still in somewhat shock from losing everything she'd ever had.

"This," Molota replied holding up her hands. "They awe bwoken. You look... full." The girl replied trying to explain her own condition.

"Full?" Ernette asked with confusion, pulling herself back up as she tried to figure out whether Molota was simply calling her fat or something deeper.

Ernette's mouth gaped at the sudden realization of the severity of Molota's condition. "That's... that's terrible."

"It's not that bad." Molota replied lacking any hint of humor.

"It's awful!" Ernette argued with a huff, looking about for any sign of civilization, and with it, help, before looking back down to Molota, "Don't worry, Molota. I'm gonna help you with this."

"How?" The girl replied, as she took a moment to wring her hands together subconsiously.

"I... I don't know yet," Ernette muttered, before taking a deep breath to assure herself, setting a hand on Molota's shoulder as she replied, "But I'll figure it out."

"You’we wawm," Molota replied before she gasped "I CAN FEEL YOU!" she shrieked rather giddily.

"And you're really cold..." Ernette remarked, shivering in her feeling of the girl.

Molota then began touching Ernette's sides "Can you feel this?"

Ernette let out a "Brrr!" before shaking her head, "Mmmhm!"

"It's been so, long, I-I-I fowgotted that's what umm... feeling feels like. " Molota replied as she moved Ernette's arm around just to feel it the motion.

"I... I think we should be trying to find you help," Ernette awkwardly yanked her hand back, unsure of what else to do.

"Fow what?" Molota asked letting go of Ernette's arm.

"For how... cold and not-feeling you are," Ernette explained.

"But, umm, I'm like this all the time." Molota said as she took a moment to rub the fabric of her blanket between her fingers.

"You... you are?" Ernette asked with confusion, "But people are supposed to be warm and feeling..."

"I think I just need to get some more ummm, alive... umm stuff and I'll be all warm and umm jiggly like you." Molota said looking at Ernette.

"What do you mean "alive stuff"?" Ernette pondered, noting the use of "jiggly" in describing her.

Molota seemed distracted, "You have twice as much alive stuff in you, why?"

"Twice as much- what is "alive stuff", and what do you mean I have twice as much?!"

"Umm alive things have like this enewgy they give off, I dunno I just know it lets me do cool stuff. You have like more than most things do, sometimes giwls just do... I don't know why." Molota replied.

"More? Why would I have..." Ernette's thoughts came to one conclusion which made her quietly gasp as she covered her mouth with her hands, before she began to tear up quickly, slumping down against a tree as she began to cry.

"Why are you sad?" Molota asked as she looked at Ernette.

Ernette sobbed for a little longer, her hands still covering her mouth and most of her face as she wept, "I-I'm pregnant, a-and she's g-gone!"

Molota's face had a puzzled look on if for a minute "What's pwegnant?"

Ernette, however, did not respond. Instead, she continued sobbing. Even after everything she just went through, being pregnant... it meant nothing without Clara at her side.

"Ewnette? Who's gone?" The girl asked.

"C-Clara!" Ernette wailed out, taking a deep breath before pulling her knees up and curling up as she cried, "I... I loved her so much and now she's gone..."

"Oh, are you hew mommy?" Molota asked.

"No," Ernette weakly shook her head, not even looking up to Molota, "She was my... my girlfriend. I was... I was gonna propose to her.." She murmured, her crying growing again as she cried, "But she's gone now!"

"Oh weiwd, those people are always like look at me I'm pwegnant, I'm bettew than you because meat is muwdew."

"I said I don't want to talk about being pregnant!" Ernette raised her voice, a slight scowl on her tear-soaked face.

"Okay we can talk about how you eat plants latew." Molota replied as she looked at her blanket. "Ummm do you want to hold this? It makes me feel bettew when I'm sad." Molota said as she extended her rather tattered blanket.

Ernette looked to the girl's blanket, and then to the undead girl herself, before attempting to wrap her arms around the apparition's form to give her a hug.

"Oh, a hug... give me a second." Molota said as her corpse like body reformed around her spirit and hugging Ernette. "I like this."

While the embrace of the corpse was cold and rigid, Ernette still found comfort in the hug, knowing that, even after everything she went through, after losing her girlfriend and daughter, and everyone else, she had someone she could feel happy with, even if it were still blocked out by the shell-shock of the incident. "I do too," the Benefactor hummed ever so quietly.

"Okay. Ummm, do you want to help me scare some teenagews latew?" Molota asked. Despite wanting a friend for so long, she had no idea what to do once she had one.

"...No, not right now," Ernette shook her head as she pulled back from the hug, "I... I wanna keep looking for my friends. If you're here, then there's still a chance they could be here and... that means she could be too."

"Yeah, I guess. Whenever I kill like frogs and stuff they don't weally become ghost, but I think think we'll find Cawly." Molota responed having forgotten Clara's name.

"Clara," Ernette corrected with a grit.

“Yeah that’s what I said Clawa.” Molota lied, not seeming to care how hurtful her statement might be.

Ernette looked at the girl for a moment, her expression trying to calm as she turned away and began to walk in a fixed direction, "Let's get going. We have a lot of woods to look through, it looks like."

“Okay, Ms. Ernette.” Molota replied as she began wandering through the woods saying “Clara! Come out come out where ever you are! Ernette is looking for you!”

"Hello?" Ernette shouted out as she meandered along, still a bit confused as to the surroundings, "Is there anyone out here?"

Eventually, after some wandering, Ernette would find a response in the form of sobbing. It definitely sounded like one of the girls, and the pained blubbering of Zoey's name likely gave away who was crying in the woods.

"R-Ruby?!" Ernette hastened her pace, moving quickly through the dead-looking woods to find the source of the crying. If it really was who she thought, she would most definitely need support in this time of need.

Ruby did not reply to her name, too enthralled by her own misery to care. She was sitting down, shrunk up into a ball as she cried into her knees. Her hair had a much more reddish hue, as if it were dyed, but was desaturated like the rest of her environment. Her short, denim jacket had elongated down to her waist and darkened nearly to black along with her jeans. Her frilly, pink top was an actual shirt and was hidden behind her buttoned up jacket.

Molota followed behind Ernette, “I thought we was looking for Clara?” The corpse asked unsure of who Ruby was.

Ernette ignored the corpse’s remark as she saw the miserable-feeling girl, and ran up to her as fast as she could, kneeling over as she mumbled quickly and loudly, “Ruby! Ruby, it’s me, Ernette! I’m here, Ruby!”

"Z-Zoey's gone..." Ruby managed to whimper out, not looking Ernette's way as she continued to sob.

“Was Zoey your girlfriend too?“ Molota asked innocently. This only served to increase the intensity of Ruby's cries.

“I don’t get why you are sad.”’ Molota muttered. “How do I make her not sad, Ms. Ernette?”

Ernette took a moment to take in the knowledge that Zoey truly was gone, along with the others. She looked morosely at Ruby, shuddering for a moment, before wrapping her arms around the curled-up girl, trying to give her a hug as she began to break into her own tears.

Molota looked at the two, confused. Ernette was hugging this Ruby girl, but Molota has just hugged Ernette. Did that mean nothing to her? Was Ruby a threat, a friend thief?

Soon enough, Ruby broke out of her ball and returned Ernette's embrace, sobbing into her dress and crying out Zoey's name in agony.

Maybe they were just already friends, everything woukd be okay for Now and is she found Clara and Zoey she would have four friends, that’s like a bajillion times more than she had yesterday. “Can I help you find Zoey?”

Ruby had finally had enough of whoever this was, turning to Molota and screaming furiously, "SHE'S DEAD!"

“Well duh, I’m dead too, was trying to say maybe I could make her alive again. Meanie head.”

"Molota, not now," Ernette pulled back for a moment with a tear-drenched scowl.

Molota pouted at the two. She had half a mind to leave right then, except she was so close to having just one friend. She looked down, and in a desparete attempt win Ernette’s affection back, said, “Sorry.”

"It's... it's fine," Ernette mumbled, pulling herself back into her close hug with Ruby. She had quieted down to simple crying, with very few mumbles or much otherwise. It was much easier when she had someone to hold onto.

"... She saved me..." Ruby gulped, still shuddering, but was at least able to form a coherent sentence, "From the... The laser..."

"She saw it coming and... She grabbed me and jumped out the window and... Pushed me down... B-But.. The laser got her..." Ruby whimpered, beginning to cry again as she recalled Zoey's scream upon being hit by the beam of light.

“Bright lights hurt.” Molota noted trying to sympathize with Ruby.

"Molota," Ernette shot a cold stare at the undead girl, colder than even the girl's body, "Please wait over there."

The girl pouted but did as she was told.

With the ghostly Molota taken care of, Ernette's attention focused on Ruby again, "It's... I'm sorry," she tightened her grip on Ruby, holding her close as she quietly murmured, "I'm so sorry..."

After a few minutes, Ruby weakly pushed away from the hug before wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin inbetween her knees as she looked morosely at the ground.

Ernette knelt there, concerned but unsure what to do for the young girl. She had seen her own sister, her idol, wiped from existence in a mere moment. Ernette knew it hurt to lose her loved ones, but to lose someone like Ruby had lost Zoey? She knew it wasn't comparable.

Molota meanwhile had taken to lying down on the ground, just kind of doing nothing.

The Benefactor took a few more moments, before sighing quietly, falling onto her rear, "What do we do? There has to be something we can do."

"... What do you mean?" Ruby sniffled.

"There's... there's always some way to fix something," Ernette mumbled, "We just have to.. .to figure out what to do to make it like it never happened."

Alive people are funny. Molota thought to herself upon hearing Ernette.

Ruby shot Ernette a scornful look from the corner of her eye before looking back down at the ground once more.

"I know it sounds like it wouldn't work, but... there has to be," Ernette shook her head, "There has to be a way to... to bring them all back."

"Oh yeah, we'll just.. Find a fucking time wizard! How about that?!" Ruby snapped, her angry expression breaking upon realizing she had just mocked a notion Zoey often brought up as a genuine suggestion.

"N-no, I didn't mean to make you mad," Ernette gulped and shrunk back, "I just... I can't do this without her," she pulled her own knees back, starting to look like she was just copying Ruby's motions, "I need Clara, or I'm... I'm..."

"... Nothing," Ruby murmured, sharing Ernette's sentiment but with her own relationship with Zoey.

”Sometimes with necromancy you just use someone as a mold to make copies.” Molota suggested. “So maybe it was like a moving people beam.”

"I can't go on without her," Ernette whimpered, "With everything we had, and now that I'm pregnant, I... I can't live without her."

“That means she only eats plants!” Molota added.

Any empathy that Ruby could exchange with Ernette was muddied as she glared at Molota. "Who the hell even is this?"

"When I first got here, she found me, and... and she was nice to me," Ernette mused sadly, "She... doesn't know a lot."

"Obviously," Ruby muttered.

“I do too know alot. Like the world isn’t flat!” the girl added.

"... She takes some getting used to," Ernette admitted, "But Molota's just trying to be nice. She just... doesn't know what's nice."

“So, umm how do we find them?” Molota asked.

"...I don't know," Ernette glumly huffed, looking down to the ground for an answer, but finding none.

“I think there‘s a town back that way. Maybe someone there knows.” Molota suggested.

Ruby seemed far less optimistic than Ernette and Molota, slumping back down with a sigh as she rested her chin on her knees.

"...Alright," Ernette murmured, slowly getting to her feet, "If anything, it will be better to get out of the woods. Do you want to come, Ruby?" She asked.

"... I guess," Ruby mumbled in response, lethargically getting up.

“Do you think we’ll find any lizards?” Molota asked looking down at the leaf covered ground.

Ernette did not respond, sighing tiredly to herself. This new place was already putting a strain on the Benefactor, worrying for everyone and especially Ruby.

“Ruby, What do you like to do for fun?” Molota asked the grieving twelve-year-old.

"I'd... rather not talk either," Ernette admitted guiltily, knowing she would hurt the girl's feelings, but really not feeling up to the task of small talk.

“I’m just trying to distract you.” Molota muttered as she continued walking.

"What?" Ernette blinked, stopping her walking.

“Lots of people think they can ignore death, it’s part of the grieving process.” Molota responsed matter-of-factly.

"Just shut up," Ruby muttered as she trudged along.

“Okay.” Molota responded as she walked along.

-----

After a short time, the group would eventually make their way to Halloweentown. As they walked through an empty street of the dark little town, a trash can shook and shuddered in an almost aggressive fashion, before crashing over on itself, Shlyke tumbling out with a frustrated set of hisses and whirs. It seemed that his limbs looked more sharp and rigid, while his face and mandibles were noticably lighter than the rest of his darkened, dull body, in the shape of a skull. His uniform, already ragged, was more torn up and had since turned black.

“It’s a bug! I’m gonna eat it.”

"No!" Shlyke detested as he got back to his feet, flickering out his wings in a defensive pose.

"You are not!" Ernette huffed, "Shlyke is a friend, not food!"

Momota quickly ran towards the insect before helping herself to the garbage the insect was eating.

"...You are not supposed to be eating that," Shlyke glumly chirped, "It's... it is bad manners."

Molota did not care. The zombified child only continued scarfing down trash as fast as she could. Her general movements and sound movements and the sounds she made the scene eerily similar to a staving animal watching for the first time in weeks.

Shlyke looked at the girl for a few moments, before slowly turning to Ernette and Ruby, cocking his head to Molota several times to gesture silently to the undead girl.

"It's... It's complicated," Ernette huffed, wanting to leave it at that and not have to explain again Molota's predicament.

“CHEESE!” Molota shrieked before biting into a rather moldy wheel of cheese.

Molota then looked at the bug, “You don’t want to be my friend?” She asked sadly.

“...Not right now, no,” Shlyke shook his head.

“Oh,” Molota replied, dropping the cheese wheel and walking away from the trash.

”...Well, it’s good to see you, Shlyke,” Ernette tried to garner up a smile, but only lessened her droopy expression.

”And you the same,” Shlyke chittered, “I was... getting desperate.”

“Is eating trash bad?” Molota asked regarding her recent behavior.

“Yes, it is,” Shlyke quipped quickly, “Bad manners are not good.”

"But, I haven't eaten since... 1820 I think..." Molota said as she walked away from the pile of trash.

“Huh,” Shlyke noted before turning his attention back to Ernette, “...Are you everyone left?”

"Yes," Ruby answered for Ernette, looking down at her feet.

“Oh...” Shlyke’s tone turned somewhat saddened (moreso than it already was) as he peered down for a moment, “That is... I... No one else?”

Ernette slowly nodded in affirmation, as the Abrol shrunk back at the realization that it meant even Tina was gone. “No... They have to be around... They have to be! They can’t be gone, they just can’t!” Shlyke hissed in denial, shaking his head as he took several steps back.

Ruby looked at Shlyke for a moment before letting out a sigh, knowing who he missed out of the group. "Tina might be somewhere," She mumbled. After all, she had only seen Zoey get hit by the laser.

While Ernette knew this to be untrue, and that Tina had been assuredly taken by a laser too, she said nothing, not wanting to spur the Abrol’s mood any further.

”R-really?” Shlyke whimpered, shaking his head as he calmed quickly, “Well... W-we need to get looking for her, then! This place is full of weird people! She should not be alone with any of them for long, so we must get to looking about!”

“Weird people? That’s being a bit rude, Shlyke,” Ernette harrumphed.

”No no, I mean really weird people! People with weird bodies, weird heads, weird everything! One guy had the look like a tree with lots of bony people hanging from him! And another was very, very tall, and very, very skinny!”

"Well, we shouldn't judge them on their appearances," Ernette chided the Abrol, "If we did that, we'd never tolerate people like Tychen, or you!"

"I am not weird, I am cool! Tina said... so..." Shlyke's tone whimpered off as he reminded himself that his girlfriend could be lost, alone, and scared, or even worse, "...You are right, yes. But still, we do not want to let her be scared like us."

"You're funny." Molota added.

"...What do you mean? I am being with all of the seriousness," Shlyke replied blankly.

"I dunno, do you tell jokes?" Molota asked.

"None that would make sense to you, cheese-eater," Shlyke snickered.

"But you were eating it too." Molota replied.

"And? I know it is bad manners," Shlyke argued, "You just think it is fine."

"I think some people eat from the trash that don't have money." Molota replied.

"And?" Shlyke regarded.

"Well, I umm don't have any money." Molota responded.

"But you are immortal," Shlyke pointed out, "You lived in 1820... that is Post Ruinam, yes?"

"No, i was already dead in 1820. I think it was 15 something, i don't really remember."

"So you don't even need food but you are shoving cheese into your mouth?" Shlyke chittered.

"But I feel hungry," Molota replied."Empty... all the time."

"Well, just, eh... don't be hungry," Shlyke shrugged, "Anyways, no more silly talking. We must get to searching!"

"Then you don't be hungry." The girl huffed.

"Well, I am not dead, so that is the problem," Shlyke retorted as he skipped along.

"It's not my fault I'm dead." Molota added.

"Whatever," Shlyke shrugged, looking about for Tina.

As the Abrol and undead girl went on, Ernette looked to Ruby, quiet and unsure what to say.

“Do you think the people in town are nice?” The undead child asked nobody in particular.

"Same for Tychen! He was of not having a mouth! Or a face!" Shlyke nodded.

"I want to meet him. He sounds like daddy, because he's a necromancer too."

"An entire family of neckrowmanders?" Shlyke scoffed.

"Yeah, I think daddy is a ghost somewhere. I don't know, I haven't seen him since I died." Molta mused. "Do you think Tychen likes icecream?"

"No," Shlyke shook his head, "No mouth, remember?"

"Maybe he can make one? I do that sometimes." Molota responded.

"Nope. Never seems like he can, even when he dies and comes back to life," Shylke shrugged.

"He can die again?" Molota asked.

"Oh yes," Shlyke nodded, "He's died... uh... a lot, and then gets back up a little bit later, his wounds having done the thing of healing very fast."

"I want to learn how to do that." Molota added.

"I'll ask him when we find him," Shlyke noted, looking down an alleyway, "So... if your father is of being a ghost too, then why are you being in with us?"

"Daddy wasn't a ghost when I was alive and I just got all the life juice of of a bunch of chickens, so I made a new body." Molota responded.

"Yes, but... why aren't you with your daddy?" Shlyke asked.

"I haven't seen him in I think five hundred years, I don't know where he is."

"Five hundred years... that is of a long time to not see your family," Shlyke noted.

"It is. I wonder if they moved on to the other side."

"Other side?"

"I think its where most dead things go." Molota answered.

"Oh..." Shlyke mumbled, looking about. The two had walked a fair bit from the others, as Ernette and Ruby were nowhere in sight. The Abrol sat down on the curb, chittering some Abroli words to himself.

"Are those magic words?" Molota asked.

"Abroli," Shlyke corrected, "My people's language. I was just... saying a old saying, I guess."

"Can I have some of your alive stuff?" Molota asked.

"W-No!" Shlyke jumped up, flickering his wings, "That is not allowed by me!"

"Why?" Molota asked.

"B- because I am of needing it to live!" Shlyke hissed.

"Not all of it, just like a little bit. like umm..." Molota then held her hand up in a pinching shape. "I only need that much."

"...Only that little bit of a pinch?" Shlyke confirmed, taking a step towards her and letting his wings fold back up.

Molota's eyes started glowing as Shlyke would feel a cold wind blow through his entire being as a light began enamating from his torso.

"Aaaaaaah no no no!" Shlyke began to skitter away, "NOPE, this is done!"

A small amount of the light then exited Shlyke before it took the form of a whispy cloud before entering Molota's undead sternum. "Thank you."

"You really needed to do that?" Shlyke huffed.

Molota looked down at her hands as they took on a slightly more lifelike tone, if still rather pale. "Yeah, I feel more alivey."

"But you're still dead..." Shlyke stated affirmatively.

"But less dead," Molota added, "You should feel better soon."

"I better," Shlyke grumbled, "I have not ever been feeling this bad since my last week on the Peryp. Bunch of drinks there made me feel woozy. I fell to sleep before that, but it would probably make me feel more worse than now," he hissed.

"Drinks?" Molota asked.

"Yes, drinks," the Locust nodded, "They were drinks."

"I should try some." Molot mused "Where is Ms. Ernette?"

"Eh?" Shlyke looked around and shrugged, "We should mostly being to go back to them."

"Okay." Molota said as she began walking off calling out "MS. ERNETTE WHERE ARE YOU?"

"They are... back the other way," Shlyke pointed back to the street which the two had walked down.

"Oh." Molota said as she went off towards where Shlyke had pointed.

------

Eventually, the two would find Ernette and Ruby, sitting quietly next to eachother on the sidewalk.

"HI MS. ERNETTE!" Molota called upon seeing the woman and greeting her with a hug.

"Okay," Molota said as she took a moment to look at Ernette's face. "You kind of look like mommy."

Ernette tried to muster a smile, before being reminded of Tina and her own child, which quickly replaced her weak attempt at a smile with tears and bawling, covering her face with her hands.

Molota, unsure of what else to do, gave Ernette a hug.

Meanwhile, where Ruby sat, a small drop of what appeared to be a black liquid dripped from a nearby tree, a few drops would land near her feet, before one would fall on the edge of her leg.

"Ugh," Ruby grunted, standing up and trying to wipe away the liquid with her sleeve.

It's not gonna matter if you try and wipe it off or not. It's gonna stay for a bit.

"Wh- Who said that?" Ruby snapped, looking around.

"I... I said nothing," Shlyke cocked his head in confusion.

They can't hear me. Go around the corner, and we're gonna talk.

"... It's a stupid wizard or something," Ruby huffed before walking around the nearest corner as asked.

Slowly, a small puddle of the black fluid formed and followed Ruby around the corner, before floating off the ground into an amorphic form.

It's... nice to see you again.

It took Ruby a moment to remember, but with a fold of her arms and a disgusted look on her face, she regarded Moomek, "Of course you got to live."

I know, I know... I would've wanted Jannet to make it too. And that's why I'm here.

"I don't care. Go away. Nobody wants you here," Ruby growled.

I think you do. You don't know what I know about this mess. You don't know how to fix it, or at least try.

"I said go away!" Ruby yelled with a stomp of her foot, clearly not listening to what Moomek said.

I can get you Zoey back.

Ruby's expression instantly shifted to one of hope. However, it was brief as she furiously lashed out at Moomek, screaming, "SHUT UP!"

The semi-liquid Moomek was smacked around by Ruby's smacks, but his voice continued on, unabated by her attempt to stop it.

I can get them all back, safe and sound. I can fix it all. I just need your help.

"No you can't!" Ruby shouted with tears in her eyes as she tried banging on Moomek with her fists, "She's dead!"

She's not, though. She was merely... taken. And if you stop and listen, you can get her back. Understand? Fighting me is not going to get you anywhere, Ruby. And I... I'd rather not have to find someone else to help me. They're few and far between as it is.

Molota's words from earlier echoed in Ruby's head, So maybe it was like a moving people beam.

Distraught and shaking, but at least with some glimmer of hope in her eyes, Ruby slowly shrank back from Moomek and held her hands close to herself. "... Sorry," She mumbled before shaking her head a bit as the realization began processing, "So- Zoey's not dead? She's alive?"

Yep. They're all alive. Just being... Used could be the right term, I guess, by some... thing.

"But you can get her back?!" Ruby squeaked, quickly stepping up to Moomek.

Well, it would require some effort on your part, too, but yeah, I can get her back.

"Yes-! Th-Thank you! I-" Ruby stammered excitedly, trying to hug the amorphous form of Moomek. The strange form was enveloped in Ruby's hug, but dissappeared quickly, as if into thin air.

I don't need thanks; I just want Jannet back. Oh, and by the way, I'm currently inside you- I mean your skin. I sorta need a host to be useful at this stage, and she was my last one, so...

"Wh- Ew! No!" Ruby pulled away from the spot where Moomek once was, wiping at her arms as if that would get Moomek out of her. Despite her objection, Ruby seemed a thousand times more alive than she did a few seconds ago.

Why not? It's not like I'm a disease or anything! Just a helpful passenger.

"Where are you in me?" Ruby asked, quickly looking herself over, "Wh- Wait, what happened to my clothes?" Understandably, she did not notice her wardrobe modification until now.

Oh yeah, that happened to everyone by now. I'm surprised you didn't notice your friends' outfits... Who are they, by the way. I don't think I met any of them before.

"Uh, well there's Ernette, she's just Ernie but now in a woman's body. We picked up- Or- Shlyke just kinda came with us. We just met... Uh... Molotov?"

"Umm storks bring them don't they? But I think they bring dead ones alot, they are really bad at their jobs." Molota responded.

It's not worth the time arguing with a dead person. They're as smart as they're gonna get, and their brain's probably rotting away.

"What- No, a stork doesn't bring babies! I..." Ruby realized that time was of value here, and so she tried to summarize the baby-making process as best she could, "A guy puts his penis into a girl's vagina. Semen comes out of his penis. A sperm in the semen goes into an egg in the girl's vagina. That turns into a baby that comes out of the girl's vagina nine months later."

"That sounds like necromancy." Molota added.

"..Even I knew that," Shlyke chittered, peeking around the corner from which he had been eavesdropping from, "How are you not knowing of that?"

"That's okay. Most people are more mean. They shoot me and call me a demon." Molota responed. "Umm... is Ms. Zoey, really nice, she sounds like she was a good friend."

"Oh, Zoey's the best!" Ruby exclaimed with a nod, "She's the nicest, best friend you could ask for!"

"Yeah!" Ernette agreed with a nod, "She really is!"

"Do-do you think she would be my friend?" Molota asked.

"Yeah, of course!" Ruby affirmed.

"F-forever?"

"... Uhh... I guess?" Ruby shrugged.

"Okay... What do friends do?" Molota asked.

"... Have you never had a friend before?"

"I don't remember." Molota stated after a moment of thought, "Most people are afraid of ghosts."

"Oh... Uh... Well... Friends, uh..." Ruby took a second to think about it, "They talk about stuff they wouldn't talk about with like, not-friends, they have sex, they hang out sometimes and do fun stuff, and uh... They help each other."

"Do you want to talk about lizards, when you aren't sad anymore?" the ghost asked.

You do realize you just got fooled into talking about lizards for as long as she wants, right?

"Did you know there are these really big ones called Kondo dragons, and they have a uh poisonous bite?"

"Oh... That's... Cool," Ruby blinked. She expected Molota to have more to elaborate with, but it seemed she just thought lizards were cool. Either that meant she would quickly run out of lizard facts, or she would drone on and on about surface-level knowledge.

"Also they like to swim. What animals do you like?"

Oh thank god, Ruby let out a sigh of relief before answering, "Wolves! My last name is Wolfe, but that's spelled W-O-L-F-E, not just 'wolf'."

“Because Mr. Moomek has one and umm it’s like a super bestest friend I think.”

"No, a host is just... I'm just his host because apparently he needs one," Ruby explained.

“Oh... do you think Mr.Moomek will be my friend?” The spirit responded.

Ehhhhhhh. There's not much to, uh... really be friends with her about?

"... He said 'definitely'," Ruby answered with a smile.

“Yay that’s like five new friends today!” Molota cheered.

Sweet little lies don't hurt, I guess.

”What does Mr. Moomoo want us to do now?” The ghost wondered.

"Oh, right, Moomek! How do we get Zoey and everyone back?" Ruby asked.

Oh, right, getting them back, umm... Well, that thing that's using them's probably using them to... make copies? At least, that's the vibe I'm getting. Beat the copies of them, and then the person being used, and they'll be out of their control. No more using after that, simple as that.

"So we'd have to fight a copy of them!? What if a Bob copy comes!?" Ruby gasped.

“I could just take... I could possess the copies. That would make it easy right?” Molota suggest.

Well, that's where I, and that handy gun on your back, comes in very handy.

"Bob looks like he eats shotguns," Ruby remarked.

“Shot guns are mean.” Molota said, “They always break my bodies.”

Again, that's where I come in. I'm pretty handy when it comes to that kind of stuff. Just trust me on that.

Molota‘s body then reformed around her spirit before she walked over to Ernette and tapping her side, “Ms. Ernette can you carry me?”

"I..." Ernette grimaced as she thought of how to go about this, before finally slowly nodding, "...Yes, you can."

Molota hesitated as she said, “Thank you, mommy.”

Ernette garnered up a smile, and sighed, “You’re welcome, Molota.”

“Did I tell you you’re pretty?” The corpse inquired.

“I’m not sure, but thank you!” Ernette smiled genuinely at the compliment, “I’m not that pretty, though. Clara and Zoey are much prettier.”

Molota took a moment to think of a response. “But you’re pretty like a mommy.”

“Yeah, but compared to them, I’m not that pretty,” Ernette insisted.

“I think mommy pretty is prettier” Molota added.

“Well, thanks anyways,” the Benefactor beamed.

“Ms. Mommy? What do you do everyday? Or does Clara have a work?” Molota asked.

“Neither of us work really,” Ernette shrugged, “When we settle down, I’m gonna get a job.”

“Daddy worked in a graveyard... but if you’re the mommy why would you work?”

“Because that’s what a good girl does, of course!” Ernette explained, “Clara could get a job if she wanted, but I need to.”

”But, mommies are supposed to take care of babies, and cook and wash the clothes?” Molota responded rather confused.

“I would do that too, but I can work, too!” Ernette said, “I’m a Benefactor, so it’s fine.”

“Benefactor? Is that like a super mommy?” Molota asked.

”Er, no,” Ernette kindly shook her head, “A Benefactor is more like, eh... a super worker. Being a mom makes it better, though.”

“But... I don’t think mommies are supposed to have works.” Molota replied, trying to wrap her head around the idea.

“Well, I think it’s perfectly fine for a mommy to work,” Ernette said with sureness, “It’s fine for anyone.”

“But they do different work.” Molota argued.

"Yeah, but they can still do the same kind of work as a daddy," Ernette explained.

“I mean, mommy helped, but it’s... funny.” Molota replied.

"What do you mean?" Ernette peeked up at Molota with curiosity.

“Sometimes we helped him dig up the bodies and stuff, but mommy normally put the potions together.” Molota added.

"Why would he dig up bodies?"

“Because we’re necromancers.”

"Oh, right," Ernette mumbled.

“Sometimes daddy made slaves out of the bodies... they didn’t talk much.” Molota continued.

“Oh... that sounds like Tychen,” Ernette remarked, not knowing Shlyke had made the same assumption only a little while ago.

Molota took a moment to think. “You wants to do lots for Clara... Did you know you don’t needs an appenedyix?”

“I... did not,” Ernette replied awkwardly, “I do want to do a lot for Clara. I love her, and I want her to always love me back. I gotta work for that, or else... I don’t know what could happen if I didn’t work for her. But I do anyways. And every time I do something she likes, or do a really good job, she says, “good girl, Ernette.”. And I don’t know why, but every time I hear her say that to me, I just get a little warm, happy feeling. Do you understand?”

“Oh you‘re Clara’s slave!” Molota beamed.

Ernette stopped in her walking, taken aback by Molota’s statement.

“I think slaves fall in love with thier masters then the stork brings them babies sometimes.”

“...” Ernette said nothing as she gently set Molota back down. While she did not say anything, her expression made it clear she did not share the same excited sentiment as the girl, moreso the opposite.

...So you guys went across half a country, fought a pirate, made friends with that pirate, did a play, found a bunch of bugs and that fox is dating Bob?

"Yeah, a lot's happened in like... A week?" Ruby shrugged.

More or less. Dang, I wish Jannet and I got into half as much adventuring as you guys did.

"You could've if you didn't steal her from us," Ruby huffed scornfully.

I didn’t steal anyone and you know it. She chose on her own to leave.

"No! She wouldn't have left if it wasn't for you. You guys didn't have to leave us, but you did!" Ruby snapped, recalling how distraught she, Zoey, and everyone else was when Jannet left.

You guys would’ve never let us stay together. Whether it was Zoey’s little friend using his weirdness on me, or just Bob snapping me and half and throwing me half a mile, you know it wouldn’t of lasted long before I was gone and Jannet was left a sad wreck.

"I don't know that! Because that's not what would've happened! Instead you made everyone else a 'sad wreck'! You made Zoey cry!"

“Ms.Mommy, I’m gonna talk To Ruby.” Molota said as her ghostly form sifted off towards Ruby. Ernette did not seem to care.

Well, you know what? Yeah, I messed up. I made mistakes. I made people sad. But I can’t go back and fix those, now can I? I’m not a “time wizard”! I wasn’t thinking of everyone else when I talked to her about leaving. I just thought of what I thought then to be best for her.

"Yeah, right! You haven't even said 'sorry'!"

“Hi, Rub— oh I’ll just wait until you and Mr.Moomoo are done talking.” The Ghost said as the attempted to give the appearence she was sitting in a rock.

Well... in the end, I’m not sorry. Jannet seemed... happier with me. She didn’t have to worry about Zoey and you ostracizing her for something stupid like her chest or what she likes to read. She didn’t have to always feel down from Bob’s cold shoulder. She could do whatever she wanted and I’d be at her side the whole way. So no, I’m not sorry for giving her the best week or so of her life, Ruby. I will never be sorry for that.

Ruby was silent for a moment with tears in her eyes before spitting out, "I know you were using Jannet for something. Everyone does. You didn't take her just to make her happy."

No. Is it so hard to believe that I wanted to help her? Is it so hard to comprehend that I wanted to make someone else’s life better that you’d rather make me some terrible manipulator?

"Yes," Ruby tersely replied.

Then I’m done talking about it. This isn’t going anywhere if that’s the case.

"Good, your voice is stupid," Ruby harrumphed, folding her arms.

Molota then cautiously approached Ruby. “Wuby? Do you need a hug?”

Ruby opened her mouth to dismiss Molota, but did not want to repeat her previous behavior towards the little girl. Reluctantly, Ruby held out her arms, inviting Molota in for a hug.

Molota then held out her blanket to give something touch before wrapping the blanket around Ruby, emulating a hug the best she could.

"Oh, yeah... You're a ghost," Ruby mumbled before letting out a quiet sigh, "... I wish Zoey was here..."

“Oh I could... nevewmind.” Molota replied.

"What?" Ruby turned her head to Molota.

She was gonna say she could bring her back to life.

“I could... look like herwa, but I don’t think you’d like that.”

Oh, idolatry, even worse.

"Did you talk this much with Jannet?" Ruby huffed before turning her attention back to the ghost girl, "Yeah, I... Don't want that, but.. Thanks, I guess."

“Is Mr. Moomoo a meanie head?”

I talked with her constantly. She liked the company, and so did I.

"Yeah... But he's gonna help get everyone back," Ruby replied.

“Oh so he’s like taxes, does stuff you need but you don’t like him?” Molota asked.

"Wha- No, tax collectors are just evil. There's nothing good about them," Ruby quickly shook her head, remembering all the horrible things Wolfe said about tax collectors and said horrible things that Zoey echoed from Wolfe.

“I hear thots get audited because they don’t pay taxes... what’s a thot?”

"... A thought?" Ruby blinked, "It's like.... Words in your head, that's what a thought is- How can a thought pay taxes?"

“I heard people get called thots. Maybe they’s real smarts.”

"Huh... Well... I'm definitely not a thought," Ruby giggled at her own expense.

You can say that again.

"Don't make me snap you after we find everyone," Ruby threatened.

Like you could even do that. I was only worried Bob or that stupid robot could.

"Fine. Don't make me make Bob snap you after we find everyone, oh my god, how did Jannet put up with this?" Ruby groaned.

A lot better than you, to be honest. I wasn’t as talkative like this or rude with her, I just... want her back and I can’t really do much about it until we find her and it aggravates me and that’s why. I’m sorry for that.

So we both miss people we love... Don’t worry, though, Ruby. I promise that we’ll get them back, and after that, I’ll be out of your hair for good.

"And the rest of me," Ruby added with a quiet snicker.

Of course, of course, that too. To be honest, I like Jannet’s body better. It’s more... developed.

"... It is?" Ruby asked incredulously.

I mean, uh- Developed where it matters.

"... It is?" Ruby repeated, even more confused than before.

Developed means more than just the size of your chest.

Ruby looked down at herself. "I mean... I think I have the same body kinda as her... I'm just short," Ruby mused.

There’s just differences. I’m not really sure how to explain without it coming out as just more boob talk.

"... So you're saying you don't like boobs?"

Not at all. I’m just saying that there’s more to liking someone’s appearance than boobs. For Jannet, it really doesn’t matter to me that her chest is a bit flat. The rest of her appearance is perfectly fine.

"... I dunno, she doesn't really have any curves either," Ruby remarked, "And her butt isn't that good."

Sometimes, that’s better than a curvaceous, big butt woman. You have to think about her personality, too.

"I thought we were talking about her body."

Yeah but... you know what? I like Jannet’s body. I’ll leave it at that.

Ruby thought on this for a moment before saying, "You're weird, Moomek."

Well, I am a stick person in your skin speaking directly into your mind. Me liking Jannet’s looks would be the tip of the weird iceberg to you.

"No, it's the whole iceberg," Ruby giggled.

“Icebergs of weird?” Shlyke asked as he skittered along.

...You know, I dunno why at all, but that bug looks familiar.

"It's Shlyke, you saw him earlier."

No no, I know. I just mean I think he looks familiar from before that. The name sounds pretty familiar, too, but I don’t know where I heard it. Maybe it’ll come back to me, I dunno, but he’s familiar.

“...Oh! You are doing the talking with Moomek?” Shlyke asked, hopping back as if he were intruding.

"Yeah, he says you look familiar. Were you guys friends or something?" Ruby inquired.

“I have never heard of a person named Moomek before today,” Shlyke thought, “I have not also known a weird body thing like Moomek either. He must be confused or just, eh, not smart?”

I’m not stupid. I know a name when I hear it, and I’ve definitely heard of the name Shlyke before. Must’ve been some of the other Xinth talking while we were trapped or something... this is gonna frustrate me so bad until I figure it out.

“Well, when you like someone, you can also like how they look, too,” Ernette explained, “And part of that is... boobies.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot that boys like boobies.” Molota nodded as she walked to Ernette.

“Well, anyways, I am not of thinking boobs are important,” Shlyke declared, “No matter what you or the Moomek think.”

“Hi Mr.Buggy!“ Molota said, noticing Shlyke‘s presence.

Shlyke glanced back to look at Molota for a second, before directing his attention back to Ruby, "So, as I was of saying, the largeness of the chest is, while of being important to, is not to me like you."

“Ms. Mommy, do you know hows to make cake?” Molota asked after a minute.

"...A little," Ernette nodded.

”Can we make some later?” Molota asked.

"Sure," the Benefactor agreed somewhat hesitantly, "That'd be fine."

“... Do you and Clara have any other babies?” Molota asked noticing that Ernette appeared to be in her early to mid twenties.

"Huh? Oh, no, this is our first," Ernette answered.

“But you have to be at least twenty one, how is this your first?”

"Well, I haven't been... me for long," Ernette shrugged, "Or at least, in this body."

“So you are a necromancer too! Can you teach me your spells?”

"No, not a necromancer!" Ernette shook her head, "It's this crown-" she stopped as she remembered the crown had shifted alongside the location, "...I mean, for now, hat. It turned me into this body."

“What happens if I wear the crown?” Molota asked.

"Well, you'd turn into a grown up, like me," Ernette smiled, "But I need to keep it on, or else I'll turn into a Benefactor."

"It doesn't matter," Ernette mumbled, "I just don't want to go back to being one right now."

“Okay Ms. Mommy.” Molota said before failing to give Ernette a hug, Instead only passing though her torso.

Ernette could not help but let out a giggle at Molota's attempt to hug her. She may have been hurt by the girl's unintentionally harming words, but Ernette was still adamant in giving Molota a chance.

Molota ther pokes her head from out of the woman’s torso and asked “What’s it like being a big girl?”

"What do you mean when you say "big"?"

“You’re all growed up.” Molota explained.

"Oh, alright," Ernette began, assured that Molota was again not calling her fat, "It's... nice, being an adult. I'm not sure if I can really compare it to being a kid, considering I never was one, but I'd say it's nice."

“Oh... is Clara rich?” Molota asked.

"Well, no," Ernette shook her head, "She's not rich; She didn't really have a paying job."

“Then how do you affowds all the good food.” Molota asked.

"What do you mean?"

“You have some fats.” Molota added bluntly.

Ernette glared at the girl with a deadpan expression and sighed, "Zoey and I had money, so we could pay for most things."

“Oh, that makes sense mommy.” Molota replied. “What did you do fow money?”

"I, uh... sold pictures," Ernette admitted.

“Oh pictuwes, I heawd those are weally exspensive.” Molota added.

"Yeah, the ones I sell are kind of expensive," Ernette nodded, "But people loved to buy them."

“Can I be in a pictuwe?” Molota asked. “Those are called sell-fee’s?

"...Maybe some other time," Ernette declined.

“Okay mommy.” Molota replied.

Ernette was already beginning to regret letting the ghost call her by that name, "...But don't worry, I'll be sure to let you be in some pictures, alright?"

“Okay, mommy can we do a pictuwe of a... I’ll let you choose the pictuwe.” Molota replied happily.

"We aren't gonna do it now... maybe after Clara is back," Ernette affirmed.

“Yeah, I meant latew.” Molota explained. “I love you mommy.”

"...I like you too, Molota," Ernette nodded with a small smile.

“Okay... um what are we doing now?” Molota asked.

"I thought we were following Ruby and Moomek," Ernette muttered, a tinge of spite when she said Moomek's name.

“Ok, I hope I can meet Clawa soon.” Molota replied.

"Yeah, I hope we can find her too," Ernette huffed, "She's the best."

“Okay let’s go catch up with Wuby.” Molota added.

"Sure," Ernette agreed with Molota, hastening her pace to catch up with Ruby and Shlyke.

"...So I conclude, flat chests are the ones of most fineness," Shlyke affirmed with integrity.

I really can't believe we're still on this topic.

"That's only because you like Tina," Ruby huffed, "And guess what? Once she grows up, she's gonna get boobs!"

"Then... she can have whatever she likes," Shlyke shrugged, "I would still love her if she had a bigger chest."

“Hi!" Molota quipped.

"And she will have a bigger chest. All of our moms have big boobs, so it makes sense... Ignore Jannet, Zoey said that was a fluke," Ruby went on.

Yeah, I was gonna say.

"Whatever! It is not a chest that matters in loving anyways!" Shlyke acclaimed, "It is more... more the heart and soul."

“Who’s Jannet?”

"One of my sisters," Ruby answered, "She's also Moomek's girlfriend. Also, Shlyke... That was really sweet. I didn't think you could say stuff like that."

"Well, I am always of testing my skills with this language of human," Shlyke shrugged, "It is much more difficult at some times, but can be of very touching. It is less words to remember than Abroli, to be truthful."

“Does everyone have a giwlfwiend?” Molota asked.

"No," Ruby answered with disappointment.

"..Yeah, it is a neat language, Shlyke," Ernette attempted to move the conversation onto a new topic, "A lot of them are. I remember a lot of what I had on Abrol and all the Kanak bu- er, races, and they're all neat, like you."

"Well, I am of being flattered, Ernette," the locust nodded, "But I am not very neat. I am of... normal things, to be of honesty. The only not-normal things of me is to be within this place and as an Abrol with humans."

"You also ate garbage that one time," Ruby remarked.

"Not unique for the Abrol," Shlyke admitted, "We take what we can, and usually are not as picky as humans."

"Are pirates a race?!" Shlyke gasped, unsure if what Ruby said was true.

"Wha- No, I was... I was kidding, Shlyke," Ruby replied before stifling the threat of a giggle fit.

"Phew, I was worried then. Many Abrol are pirates, so I was not of being sure how it worked. I was a pirate once, so I was unsure of if I was of being a pirate or not."

Once Ruby was done keeping the giggles at bay, she gave Molota a cheerful, "Arrrr!"

I wanna dieeeeeee, get me out of here. Jannet, where are you, come here faster please just to get me out of this.

"Come on! Being in my body isn't that bad!" Ruby snickered.

I was more complaining about the pirate-talk, but yeah, it's sorta mediocre, at best. I'm biased, but still, I wish there were less thoughts about Zoey. Like, half of these are just you thinking about Zoey.

"... They are?" Ruby asked with a blush.

...I didn't mean it as a good thing, but yeah, they are.

"Oh, what am I thinking about right now?" Ruby asked excitedly.

Zoey.

"Well- Duh- I mean what about Zoey?"

That she is the best? Or that she has the best hair? Or the best fashion sense? Or... man, it just keeps going. It's like an endless ocean of Zoey's.

"Wow... I do think all that!" Ruby gasped in astonishment that her thoughts were being read out to her. She never really thought about what she thought about before.

Yeah, you should really think about yourself some more. I'm being entirely honest with that.

"What do you mean?" Ruby inquired, cocking her head.

I mean, there's a few thoughts about yourself... but most of them just tie back into Zoey. It's a real issue of insecurity, I'm thinking.

"What's insecurity?"

"Not being sure about yourself," Ernette piped up.

What she said.

Ruby pondered on this for a moment before saying, "I think I'm sure about myself... Unless I don't really know what that means."

When most of your own thoughts revolve around another person you idolize and try to imitate at every turn instead of trying to be a semi-independant person, I'd say that's insecure.

"W-...What?" Ernette cocked her head in confusion at Ruby, "What do you mean?"

"Am I a Jannet?!" Ruby asked again, "Moomek said I'm just like Jannet!"

“I-I.. I don’t know?” Ernette answered without sureness. While she had seen and took note of Jannet’s personality while she was around, she did not understand to what regard Moomek compared Ruby to Jannet.

"Oh my god, I'm a Jannet!" Ruby cried out in distress, "Zoey wouldn't-... Zoey... Wait... No... No, I can't be a Jannet, Zoey wouldn't hang out with a Jannet... Phew...." She seemed incredibly relieved to assure herself that she was, in fact, not a Jannet.

I don’t see why you’re freaking out so badly. It’s not terrible to be like Jannet...

"She's just.... Such a raisin though," Ruby explained.

Raisin?

"Yeah, we would all call Jannet a raisin."

N-no I got that, what does that mean even?

"Well... It means..." Ruby let out a giggle before pressing both of her index fingers against her chest and blurting out, "She only has raisins!"

"Wh- Well those guys aren't even real," Ruby huffed, "We just say 'oh my god' because...... Because...." Ruby drew a blank as to why people said 'oh my god' if they did not believe in god, herself included.

Still, you really praise her way too much.

"Not too mu- Wait, what was that supposed to mean earlier? 'Zoey is Zoey'?"

Nothing.

"Nuh-uh! You meant something! You were saying we're all weird! How is Zoey being Zoey weird?"

She banged a robot, for goodness sake! She got you to bang a robot! Yeah, I know about that! It's hard to really hide that fact! Especially when you flaunt it about like it's not entirely crazy!

"It was like using a sex toy!" Ruby huffed.

[color=#6600FF]So now it's okay to reduce the woman behind you to an object because Zoey banged it?/color]

Ah, whatever. If I have some time, I'll think of another reason. Either way, you're all different in your own ways, and are sorta weird in their own ways.

"Hmph, and he said I'm weird just because I like Zoey," Ruby muttered.

I said praise, not like, there's a big difference!

"Because I 'praise' Zoey," Ruby groaned.

"Praise? You do not 'praise' her!" Ernette contested, "You just really like her, that's all!"

"He said I praise her like a god!"

"Ugh. I think you should just ignore him about this," Ernette huffed.

"Yeah..." Ruby thought for a moment, "... Zoey probably would be a good god though."

“That’s blasphemy... to assume someone as impewfect as a mowtal could be a god.”

Man, it's like I'm always right, with you saying she'd be a good god or whatever.

"I'm not praising her like a god!" Ruby snapped, "I'm just saying that if she were a god, she would be good at... Godding!"

I doubt that, but sure, whatever. I'm getting tired of this argument anyways... Mytos! That's who I heard Shlyke's name from! Mytos... man, I haven't heard from that guy for a while.

"Well maybe you guys can make out next time you see him, now be quiet, I don't wanna hear you talking in my head right now," Ruby huffed, waving her hand near her head as if trying to fan away the Moomek thoughts from her mind.

Nah, I'm pretty sure he's either dead or something else incapacitating, I dunno. He used to work for me, but that sorta fell out and-

"Lalalalala!" Ruby yelled, pressing her hands against her ears, "If you don't shut up I'll start thinking about Zoey!"

You already are. It's like a constant stream of just "ZOEY ZOEY ZOEY ZOEY" and it's giving me a headache already.

"Well... I'll think about her harder then!" Ruby threatened.

That's almost physically impossible, but fine, I'll shut up.

Unfortunately for Moomek, his claim was taken as a challenge by Ruby, who clenched her fists as an almost constipated look overcame her visage as the flood of Zoey in her mind became more comparable to a tsunami crashing down upon Moomek.

"You just think about Zoey and everything about her really hard," Ruby explained.

"But... why?"

"Because Zoey's amazing... And because Moomek doesn't like it," Ruby giggled to herself.

"That seems mean to Moomek," Shlyke chittered, "He might be stupid about my name, but he is not of needing to be Zoeyed."

"Well, he was being mean," Ruby huffed.

"Ooooh. I am of seeing now," Shlyke slowly nodded, "But being mean to the mean does not make it better. It is of only keeping up meanness."

"You can say that because he doesn't live inside your head."

"...That is fair," Shlyke agreed, "But still. It is a better way to try and be kind to mean people. For of an example, if Tina had not been nice to me when we first met... I would not be being here, now would I?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Ruby let out a sigh, figuring Zoey would probably agree with Shlyke in this situation, "... I'm sorry, Moomek. You can talk if you want... I'm... I'm just.... In a bad mood."

...Nah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been a jerk to begin with.

"... We say sorry to each other a lot," Ruby noted.

Yeah, we do. It's... kinda getting annoying, to be honest. We should just stop arguing about dumb things.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, unsure of what else to say after that.

...Yeah.... So... How about, uh... Hmm... Yeah, I got nothing... Oh, could you explain to me how the heck Ernie became... Ernette?

"Oh, she just put on a crown and it turned her into a woman... I think it's a hat now for some reason," Ruby answered, looking up at Ernette.

"Yeah, it's a hat.. I don't know why, but it is," Ernette gestured to the witch hat on her head, assuming Moomek had asked about her.

Alright, that's the technical reason, but also why?

"Magic?" Ruby shrugged.

No, I get that. I mean why did Ernette decide "Oh, I'm gonna put on this hat-crown-magic-thing and become a woman"?

"... I dunno. Hey, Moomek wants to know why you put on the crown and became a woman."

"Oh, that's because Clara asked me to after I told her about it," Ernette explained, "I was kind of nervous about it, but she eased me into it."

"Oh, alright.. She's just so good with it. But now that I'm pregnant... I'm not sure we'll be doing it as much."

"... Wouldn't you only be like.... A day or two pregnant?" Ruby blinked.

"Yeah, but still!" Ernette exclaimed, "I don't want anything bad to happen, so I want to be careful."

"We learned that you don't have to worry for a few months, and you can still do it a bunch while you're pregnant later if you're not super rough."

"Well, she's really rough with it," Ernette mumbled, "I'm not sure she'd like it as much if we slowed down."

"I mean you can still be rough right now," Ruby shrugged, "Clara learned all this stuff too, so I think you'll be fine."

Wait wait wait, I'm confused. How did a 12-year old girl knock up Ernette?

"Oh! Well, Clara wore a magic tie that turned her into a man while she had it on," Ruby explained, "Zoey wore it before and... She... He was great..."

Oh, I guess that makes sense, then. There's a crown that turns you into a woman, there's a tie that turns you into a man.

"Uh-huh!" Ruby nodded, "I hope there's other stuff like that out there, like, changing what you are and stuff."

"Yeah..." Ernette agreed, "I had the tie and the crown on at once one time. Clara and I wanted to see what'd happen, and it was amazing."

"The crown and the tie? What happened?" Ruby inquired with maximum curiosity.

"I had a penis... and my vagina," Ernette explained slowly.

"You had both?" Ruby gasped, "That's so weird!... But... Cool!"

"Yeah, it was fun," Ernette nodded, before her eyes widened as she remembered something, looking over herself for pockets as she scrummaged around, "Oh! I think I have it somewhere... Ah, here!" she pulled out of a pocket in her dress (she was unsure if it was there just because she was carrying something or not) the tie.

"... Huh... Hey, Moomek! What do you think would happen if you came out and put the tie on?" Ruby asked.

I dunno, might work, might not?

"... That was me telling you to try it!" Ruby egged him on, "I bet Jannet would like it!"

...Fine. But if I blow up, I'm blaming you.

"Why would you blow up?"

I don't know. I don't know what's gonna happen.

Slowly, a black mass made of Moomek began to pool up on the girl's shoulder, slowly slithering down her arm towards the tie. Ernette, in accordance with the Xinth's movements, held out the article of clothing. The front of the black form peered back at Ruby.

I'm already disliking this and I haven't even gotten it on.

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Ruby cheered.

The little blob slumped over, seemingly defeated, as it slithered into the tie, wrapping it around himself.

There would be a little flash of light, before the figure of a man stood in between Ernette and Ruby.

"Ughh... That was stupi-" the voice of Moomek cut itself off as he took a moment to realize his perspective had changed. Slowly, he looked down to his body and his arms and his hands and legs, "...Huh, I didn't blow up. That's a plus, I guess."

"It's bigger than I thought it would be," Ruby remarked, peering downwards for a moment before looking up, "How does it feel? Being a person?"

"Really really weird," Moomek admitted, "But... I think I can deal with it... if I can get some clothes. I know I'm not supposed to be this naked. Even the bug's more clothed than me."

“I think I’m the only immowtal... Post-mowtal pewson sometimes. But it’s okay because I can keep all of you as fwiends.” The apparition noted.

"Yeah, but these three'll die eventually," Moomek gestured back to Ruby, Shlyke, and Ernette, "So..."

“I think I’ll figuwe something out.” Molota retorted.

"...I am not of liking what that may be," Shlyke chittered with nervous mandibles.

“I still have have sevewal decades.” Molota comforted the abrol.

"... Hey Moomek? What happens when people die?" Ruby asked, the subject of death combined with her lack of belief in any afterlife concerning her once she actually thought about it for the first time.

"Well, I bet it differs from place to place, but I'll try to sum it up from my home universe," Moomek began, "All living things have quintessence, or a simpler way of putting it, life energy, in them. It flows through all living things like a wind or a inter-connected web or whatever. Well, when someone dies, their life energy just sorta... fades out of them, and there's nothing left in them, it gets spread across everything else. It's different for me, being a Xinth, but that's different, so I'm not gonna go into it."

“I think I sometimes I heaw voices telling me to move on. Sometimes they tell-“ Molota cut herself off rather than finish her sentance.

Ruby looked at Molota for a second before lowering her head as she pused her lips in thought. "We don't have any ghosts or wizards or anything back home... Is there any way you can see if I have... 'life energy' or something?"

“You have life enewgy. It’s diffewent though maybe kind of like a baby it seems new.” Molota responded. “I wonder if it’s more potent than the ones back home.”

"Yeah, I can feel it from where I'm standing," Moomek agreed, "A little speck of light in comparison with a lot of things."

Ruby seemed pleasantly surprised to hear that, looking down at herself and patting her torso a few times as if to try and 'feel' her 'speck of light' herself.

“i can also wead minds if I’m inside somebody.” Molota added.

"It's not a thing you can feel," Moomek explained, "It's more like... the state of being alive."

“It’s kinda like smelling... but you don’t have a nose.” Molota explained.

"Oh... Wait, you can read minds too?" Ruby asked, figuring out that Molota said 'read' rather than 'weed'.

“Yeah, but I have to be in someone’s head.” Molota replied.

"Moomek doesn't like reading my mind. He says it's too full of 'Zoey'," Ruby huffed, though her pout was playful enough to show she wasn't seriously mad at Moomek.

“I tune a lot out, I look for specific things.” Molota responses.

"Like what?"

“Feaws. It makes it easiew to collect life fowce.” The apparition stated.

"Oh yeah, those are pretty useful for things," Moomek commented, "It's hard to find them in seas of Zoey, like in Ruby's head."

“It sounds like an undewlying lack of self confidence, exagewated by seeing anothew as a pawagon of achievment.” Molota added.

"Okay, can we like, not talk about me?" Ruby harrumphed and folded her arms.

"Sure, as long as you think of more than just Zoey," Moomek quipped.

”i once possesed someone that pwayed to thiew school teachew and twied to get othews join. It could be wowse.” The ghost replied.

...You know what? Until I get some clothes, I'm staying on you, Rubs. I don't like walking naked, and it feels a lot nicer in here than on those two weird... legs.

"There's not too much 'Zoey' for you?"

Yeah, but at least it's not cold in your body. Pretty warm and snug, to be honest.

"... Thank you?" Ruby blinked, unsure of what else to say to that.

I-I mean Jannet's still better, but still, it's nice.

"... You're weird, Moomek," Ruby as she shook her head with a smile.

Right back at you. Now...back on the search for shadowy-not-shadow copies?

“I can be wawm too.” Molota added.

"But you're a ghost," Ruby pointed out.

“If I get nowe life fowce I can be like you... but Mw. Moomek can use my blanket.” Molota offered. “If I had some youw lifefowce I could be like you.”

"Uhh.... If you... Just take a little bit... Does it hurt?" Ruby asked with uncertainty.

“A little I think.” Molota responded.

"... Okay, don't take too much, I guess," Ruby nodded.

Molota blinked as her eyes started glowing brighter and called for a small part of Ruby’s being to leave her body. A small while flame jumped from Ruby’s heart before it entered Molota’s body.

"Geagh! Oh god, eugh! I don't like that! I don't like that!" Ruby gasped, putting her arms around herself.

“I’m done.” Molota said as a she fell To the ground.

Yeah, that seemed... invasive.

Molota wiggled her toes and took a moment to take in all the sensory information. She then looked at her hands, which appeared more lively than they did previously, though incredibly pale with matching stark white hair. “Thank you, Wuby.”

"You're welcome- Can I use that blanket?" Ruby asked, rubbing her arms. Getting the life sucked out of her (Or at least part of it) left her feeling rather cold.

“Only if you give it back,” Molota responded, extending the blanket forward.

"Y-Yeah," Ruby quickly nodded, wrapping herself up in the blanket like a walking burrito.

“The leaves feel funny.” Molota commented.

Shlyke quietly picked up a leaf, crumpled it up in his hand, before dropping it. "They are feeling like leaves," he commented.

”I like how they cwunch.” The girl added as she stepped on a leaf.

"It is of being nice, yes?" Shlyke agreed, joining Molota in stepping on leaves.

"...So, Ruby," Ernette spoke up with a light laugh, "Once we get everyone back, are we gonna... finish that snowball fight? I was really having fun with that."

"I dunno. There's not really any snow here. Everything's just kinda..." Ruby shuffled a few leaves with her foot, "Crappy."

"Yeah... Well, whenever we do find snow, we should start it back up," Ernette assured, "Clara had a great plan, and we were gonna beat you if we could use it!"

"I am no fan of the snow," Shlyke interjected, "Is of being too cold for me, and wet and sticky too."

“I don’t weally mind, it’s kind of nice and pwetty.”

"Is just white, though," Shlyke argued, "Just white is boring and plain and not pretty."

“But it’s light and shiny.” Molota commented.

"And blinding! It blinds you if you are to be looking at it for too long!" Shlyke shook his head, "Snow is of being cold, bland, and dangerous to the eyes! We should be melting it all!"

"Tina loves snow," Ruby stated simply.

"I know that! And that is why I was playing in the imaginary snow war," the Abrol explained, "If she is happy with it, then I will be fine with it. Or, to be of tolerating it, I guess."

“Do you like snow, mommy?” Molota asked.

"Yeah!" Ernette nodded, "It's nice, soft, and fun to play in."

“Can we hold hands?” The girl asked.

"Oh, sure!" Ernette smiled, taking Molota's hand in hers.

“Youw hands feel like mine.”

"They do," the Benefactor agreed happily, "They're a bit warmer."

"... They're both hands," Ruby blinked, unsure of what Molota was getting at.

”Hews wewe hot eawliew.” The girl explained.

Ruby sighed at Molota's continued butchering of words and tried again to help her with an, "Arrrrrrr."

”Arw.”

"Arrrrrr."

“Arrw.”

"You almost got it!" Ruby cheered, "Arrrrr!"

“Arrrww.”

"Come on! You're really close! Arrrrr! Arrrrrrrr!"

“Arwt.”

"You can do it, just copy what my mouth is doing, come on!" Ruby egged on, lifting her head up a bit to give Molota a good, clear view of her mouth as she went through the motion of pronouncing, "Arrrrrrr."

“Grrrody.” Molota said.

"Grody? Wh- Wait! You did it!" Ruby gasped.

“Right.” Molota replied.

"That's a good job, honey," Ernette praised.

"Say my name!" Ruby exclaimed.

“Ruby has pretty wed hair.” Molota said.

"Red ha- Oh- Thank you!" Ruby giggled.

“It’s red, like... a tomato.” Molota added.

Ruby snickered at that before worming her arms out of the blanket and giving Molota a hug. "I was really bad at doing 'R's too... Which sucked because my name is Ruby. Zoey helped me though!"

“I like saying Wuby more though.” Molota added as she hugged Ruby.

"I had a hard time saying my name once too," Shlyke admitted, "So I made it Shlyke and it is all better."

“You can just change youw name?“ Molota inquired.

"If you want to, I guess," Ruby shrugged after pulling back from the hug.

"Of course! People in Abroli Sector do it all the time," Shlyke nodded, "It can be to sever yourself from bad family, or other relations, or other things!"

“Wow, your people sound cool.” Molota replied.

"Eh, Abrol are mixed bag, I guess. But yeah, we are pretty cool. Some more than others, but yeah."

“Mommy do you think you can make clothes for daddy?” The albino asked the pale woman.

"Me? Oh, no no," Ernette shook her head, "I don't know the first thing about making clothes. Harper, though, could probably do it. She was really good at making clothes. She made Shlyke a coat, I think."

With a sudden stream of Moomek emerging from Ruby, he flew off quite quickly, out of sight of the group in a flash.

“Where did Moomek go?” Molota asked.

Within a few moments, a scarecrow smashed into the street next to them, Moomek's fluid form slithering in the air close behind as he stripped the straw-and-wood figure of its clothes, slipping itself into them in a humanoid figure, before wriggling a tendril into Ernette's pocket and yanking out the tie.

"That should -gah, straw is painful," Moomek declared, in human form again.

Moloya quickly ran over and hugged Moomek’s leg.

"Well, that's, uh, nice," Moomek put up a weak smile for the child on his leg, "I guess these clothes work. They'd be better with underwear, but they'll do for now."

“I love you dad- Mr. Moomek.” Molota beamed up to the man.

"Well, I think you're pretty nice, too, Molota," Moomek chuckled back down to the girl.

Molota then reached for Moomek's hand “Mr. Moomoo, can you teach me about necromancy later?”

"I don't know much about necromancy, per say," Moomek said, "But I can teach you some stuff about Void magics, I guess."

“Okay, Mr. Moomoo, then I can make you eggs for breakfast.” Molota offered.

Ms. Marvel landed near a group of crooked houses. All around her, the hills and cliffs stretched up and over, drooping in the gloom.

What had happened? The flash of light... oh, God, Gladion!

For some reason, Ms. Marvel had a feeling that neither Gladion nor Hector were dead. But assuming that was the case, what was that flashing light?

Her thoughts were interrupted by something heavy and bumpy striking her in the face. She looked down, and a toad was sitting in her lap.

“Gah!” she yelped, stumbling back. The toad flipped out of her lap and hopped away. Ms. Marvel heard the tittering of three kids to her left. She turned and saw children in a devil, a witch, and a skeleton costume giggling amongst themselves.

“Trick!” sneered the devil kid. The three children cackled before scampering off.

“Hey! Get back here! What was that for?” Ms. Marvel shouted.The heroine scrambled to her feet and attempted to give chase, but the three kids were already gone.

Ms. Marvel looked down the street, and saw that a myriad of demons and monsters were traveling up and down the cobbled paths.

“In Halloween Town, no one is too old for trick-or-treating!” a second vampire chided, before turning to Ms. Marvel and smiling grotesquely. “Pay him no mind. He had a bad run-in with teenagers before.”

Who’s the guy, who’s the guy... Ah! Ms. Marvel thought.

“Hey, do you know where Jack Skellington is?” she asked.

The vampires looked at each other, conversing amongst themselves. “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the Pumpkin King since the end of the Halloween celebration...” one of them remarked.

“Wait, boy,” Jack chided, before turning the handle and opening the door.

C-r-e-e-e-a-k...

A chilly breeze wafted from the door, blowing some white flecks around Jack and Zero. Zero attempted to eat one, but it blew away.

Jack peered into the doorway, gazing deeper, deeper, going down on his hands and knees and exploring deeper still, into the cold, into the dark—

“Wh-whoa!!” Jack yelped, as the ground beneath him gave way. Jack howled as he slid down a tunnel. Colors flashed around him as a chill in the air rattled him to the bone.

And just as suddenly, it was over. Something broke Jack’s fall. The Pumpkin King took himself a tumble, feeling a cold wash over his body as he crested a pure white hill. Rubbing his eye sockets, he gazed over a town at the foot of the hill, bewildered by its spectacle. A warm glow emitted from every home. Upon Jack’s nasal cavity, a white fleck alighted and turned to water.

Jack stood up, and dusted himself off, before descending from the hill, as he began to observe...

“What's this? What's this?There's color everywhereWhat's this?There's white things in the airWhat's this?I can't believe my eyesI must be dreamingWake up, Jack, this isn't fairWhat's this?What's this? What's this?There's something very wrongWhat's this?There are people singing songsWhat's this?The streets are lined withLittle creatures laughingEverybody seems so happyHave I possibly gone daffy?What is this? What is this?There are children throwing snowballsInstead of throwing headsThey're busy building toysAnd absolutely no one's deadThere's frost on every windowOh, I can't believe my eyesAnd in my bones I feel the warmthThat's coming from insideOh, lookWhat's this?They're hanging mistletoe, they kissWhy that looks so unique, inspiredThey're gathering around to hear a storyRoasting chestnuts on a fireWhat's this?What's this?In here they've got a little tree, how queerAnd who would ever thinkAnd why?They're covering it with tiny little thingsThey've got electric lights on stringsAnd there's a smile on everyoneSo, now, correct me if I'm wrongThis looks like funThis looks like funOh, could it be I got my wish?What's this?Oh my, what now?The children are asleepBut look, there's nothing underneathNo ghouls, no witches here to scream and scare themOr ensnare them, only little cozy thingsSecure inside their dreamlandWhat's this?The monsters are all missingAnd the nightmares can't be foundAnd in their place there seems to beGood feeling all aroundInstead of screams, I swearI can hear music in the airThe smell of cakes and piesAre absolutely everywhereThe sights, the soundsThey're everywhere and all aroundI've never felt so good beforeThis empty place inside of me is filling upI simply cannot get enoughI want it, oh, I want itOh, I want it for my ownI've got to knowI've got to knowWhat is this place that I have found?What is this?”

"That, and I think the way you say your R's is kind of cute," Ernette admitted.

”I’m cute?” Molota asked staring at Ernette.

"Of course you're cute!" Ernette cooed, "How could you not be cute?"

”I looked like a corpse earliew.”The child added bluntly.

"Yeah, but now you're adorable!" Ernette beamed.

“Ok Mommy.” Molota said as she wrapped her fingers around Ernette’s hand. “Oh can i hold youw baby when you have it?”

"Oh, um... Y-yeah, sure," Ernette nodded.

“Can I brush your hair later?” Molota inquired.

"Oh, of course," Ernette agreed, more optimistic sounding about that then the last inquiry.

”I love you mommy.” Molota said hugging Ernette again.

"I love you, too, honey," Ernette again returned the hug.

“And you’re beatest mommy and daddy is the bestest daddy.” Molota praised her new role models.

"... So Ernette is the mom.... Moomek is the dad..." Ruby mumbled with a confused look on her face as she tried putting two and two together, but only came up with fish.

“And Ruby can be the sister too!” The pale child added.

"... Ernette's the mom.. Moomek’s the dad... But Ernette is dating Clara, my sister... Moomek is dating Jannet, my sister... You're a sister... But if Ernette..." Ruby groaned, trying to make sense of the strange fantasy family tree Molota was crafting.

"... Only if you keep trying to do your 'R's right," Ruby quickly added with a giggle.

“Ok I pwomise!” Molota said before realizing she had messed up an R.

Ruby snickered and ruffled Molota's hair. Her smile quickly changed to a look of surprise as a realization of her own hit her. Is this what being Zoey feels like? When she interacts with Ruby?

“I can do better on my R’s I promise!” Molota tried to recover.

"As long as you try," Ruby assured.

“I - I promise.“ Molota said in a panicked tone.

"Hey, it's.. What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

“I have to say my R’s right.” Molota explained, being very careful to pronounce the r’s correctly.

"Yeah, but.. I just want you to try... If you mess up, it's okay," Ruby explained.

”But if I don’t try you won’t love me anymore.”

Ruby looked at Molota in shock for a few seconds before giving the undead girl a hug. "That's... Not how love works, Molota," Ruby stated firmly, "... I mess up stuff a bunch... All the time... But Zoey still loves me. That's how love works."

“But I made you sad about Zoey.” The girl said fearing she had lost her friend.

"Yeah but... You messed up. I mess up when trying to help Zoey all the time. But, like... She still loves me. And... Like, right now... I think I feel like Zoey, like how she feels whenever she's talking to me about serious stuff like this or when she's helping me with stuff."

“Wish Zoey was here.” Molota said, assuming the girl would know what to say.

"Me too," Ruby agreed.

“What if Mr. Moomek doesn’t like me?“ Molota asked as she hugged Ruby.

"I think he does... I don't know if he loves you, but... I do," Ruby assured, returning the hug and smiling with genuine confidence down to Molota, "You're my Ruby."

“Ok... I But you’re Ruby?”

"No," Ruby giggled, "You're not literally Ruby- Me.. It was a metaphor or something."

“Oh like... you’re Zoey.”

"Yeah," Ruby nodded, "... I've always wanted to be Zoey..."

”Okay what would you do right now?” Molota asked looking to her new sister for guidance.

"Hm... Well, first.. Are you all good?" Ruby asked, pulling back so she could look at Molota.

“I think so.” Molota nodded.

"Hmm..." Ruby hummed as she stood up tall and put a hand to her chin. While she had been relieved to hear of Zoey's not-being-dead earlier, the absence of her sister made it very obvious that Ruby was aimless. Not just unhappy because her sister was gone, but as if she had no purpose without her around.

With her new relationship with Molota, however, Ruby seemed much more alive than before. "I think... Before we do anything... I should get you up to speed on all the sex jokes and stuff."

“There are jokes?” Molota asked.

"Uh-huh, and like... Looking at everything around you, you gotta see if it looks like a sex joke. Me and Zoey do it all the time," Ruby explained.

”Like how Moomek has a penis?” The ghost asked.

"You hear that Moomek? She said your penis is a joke!" Ruby giggled.

”And Ernette has a vagina?”

"Well... Her just having a vagina isn't a sex joke," Ruby snickered.

Moomek slithered around in the air, before stopping stagnantly, his form looking unamused.

“Um mommy and daddy had sex at the circus?” Molota said trying to make a joke.

"No," Ruby shook her head, "An easy thing is like.. There's a bunch of different words for penises and vaginas... Like for a penis, there's wiener, shlong, cock, dick, and a bunch more. You can even call it like.. A banana or whatever is kinda like the shape of it."

"Oh like wieners with ketchup and mustard?... So... um Moomek’s penis looks like a hotdog without ketchup?” Molota said.

Ruby giggled in response, "We'll work on it. C'mere, I don't wanna spoil the jokes for everyone else." She gestured Molota closer for a whisper.

Molota approached Ruby ready to hear the joke.

Ruby's voice was a hushed whisper, as it was not merely a joke she told Molota, but a series of sexual innuendos and references. She would occasionally point to one of the other members of the group or their surroundings as she spoke, gifting the ghostly girl with all her knowledge on innuendo.

Then why else do you only have sisters? And don’t give me Shlyke’s “only females in cold weather” bullcrap.

"I don't know! But he doesn't kill babies!"

“He kills babies?” Molota asked.

"No!"

There’s no other way, Ruby. Either you guys have super duper baby magic, or he aborts baby boys.

“Are you lying about her daddy?” Molota asked.

"He does not do that!" Ruby insisted, "You're a liar!"

I am not! Just think for one second why you don’t have any brothers. Why your dad is the only man there.

"Just.. Dumb luck!"

Fifty-or-so daughters is not dumb luck. It’s planning. Meticulous, terrible planning that involves getting rid of any children that are going to be born a male. And you know what that means?

Molota had since returned to her own sobbing as she listened to the conversation.

It means that your father, no matter how insignificant a role, has had a role in killing countless children.

"... That's not true... He wouldn't do that," Ruby gulped as reality slowly began to sink in and a few tears welled up in her eyes.

And why wouldn’t he? There’s no reason for him not to, and plenty to do so. It’d be in his definite interest to get rid of boy children.

“Why would he only want girls?“ The necromancer asked.

That’s the easiest part to figure out. A bunch of the opposite sex, completely subservient, without any real competition from rowdy boys? It’s paradise for the guy.

“huh?” Molota cried, not understanding.

"What are you saying?" Ruby murmured.

That your dad is a terrible king with no opposition whatsoever because he killed them all before they were even born.

"That isn't true! Why would he even do that?!"

I told you why he did it. To keep everyone in his little fort completely loyal to him and him alone. It’s a genius move, but completely and utterly immoral and evil.

"But... But he loves us..." Ruby whimpered.

Does he, though? Did he love Jannet to the point where she hates him and never really liked him as a father? Or is it just plain happenstance that anyone outside of your Hold have the same feelings about your father when they’re told how he works?

It was true. Everyone Ruby and her sisters had met said the same thing about Wolfe, that he was a bad man that used them for his own pleasure. That he abused them. Ruby could try to defend against the realization, but she quickly remembered her own arguments she used against Molota's father.

"... Oh my god..." Ruby croaked out as tears streamed down her face and she crumpled to her knees.

“This is all my fault.” Molota sobbed.

Moomek reeled back from both Ruby and Molota, floating above the crying girl quietly, but with somber motions, it was clear tha Moomek held some sympathy for Ruby’s crying.

“If I hadn’t said those things, Moomek wouldn’t have said that about youw daddy.” The ghost wailed.

"Shut up, Molota! This isn't about you!" Ruby screamed before descending back into her own sobs.

Hearing crying, Ernette burst into the scene, running around the corner as fast as she could with a gasp at the sight of Ruby on the ground. “Oh my- Ruby! Are you alright?” She worriedly asked as she fell to her knees next to the distraught girl.

Ruby could not reply, only blubbering out a slur of words in response as she hid her face amidst her sobbing.

Ernette softly cooed to Ruby as she wrapped her arms around her gently, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Just calm down...”

Molota, assuming she only made things worse, continued crying. Ruby attempted to convey what was wrong, but her words were just as as slurred in her sobs as before.

“Ruby, you’re alright, you’re alright,” Ernette attempted again to soothe Ruby, rocking both of them back and forth lightly.

With the utterance of the word “dad”, Ernette began to understand why Ruby was so devastated. She held the girl tighter, pressing them together as she again cooed, “Just let it out...”

Finally, Ruby returned the embrace, holding Ernette as tightly as she could as she cried into the woman.

“There there...” Ernette calmly held Ruby close, rubbing a hand on her back, “You can cry as long as you want...”

Everything everyone had said about her father was true. Having that knowledge, it seemed so obvious to Ruby then. She felt stupid for being led on by him, believing that he genuinely loved her, her sisters, or her mothers. It made sense why Bob, Fennel, and everyone else they met called him a monster.

The ghost remained silent, afraid to speak. She then moved over to sit next to Ruby, unsure of what to do next.

While Ernette saw that Molota was also upset, she was still lesso in distress than Ruby, and therefore, she affirmed that it would be better for her to focus on comforting Ruby before turning her attention to Molota.

Molota stared at Ruby waiting to be told what she could do to make the situation better. “I... I... sowwy.”

Ruby did not respond. Either she did not care about Molota's apology, she was too absorbed in her own sobbing to hear it, or a mixture of both.

Molota quickly burst back into tears assuming she couldn’t be forgiven.

”How to be around them.“ The undead sniffled as she tried to hug Moomek.

The form of Moomek stayed in place, letting Molota wrap her arms around it.

I’m touched, but... I don’t think you want my help with that. We both do things very very differently.

“Pweaze.”

...Fine, I’ll teach you some stuff about being social.

“Thank you... Mr. Moomo—Moomek.” Molota replied.

You’re welcome. Now, what to start with... Tell me what you want to know, first.

“I Umm... how to make people not sad.” Molota requested.

Well, for starters, I wouldn’t show them your, uh, undead stuff. Secondly... well, I think you a fine enough job of that anyways.

“Okay daddy... how do I make Ruby feel better now?” Molota asked.

That, um... She just had her entire worldview blown wide open, and she might be associating that with me and you right now. She’s gonna need some time to come to terms.

“So a cawd would be a bad idea.” Molota

It might be better if you just confront her later and apologize then, or just.. explain that you’re sorry.

“Okay.” Molota nodded. “How long do we need to wait?”

I’ll tell you when it’s a good time, okay

“Oh... um, do you know a game we can play until then?”

...You know how to play Go Fish?

“I think so.” Molota nodded. “You play with the numbers cards right?”

Yep. I think we can play that.

Moomek floated down to the ground, where a small chunk of himself split off, formining into what appeared to be thin, rectangular cards, each with specific numbers crudely emblazoned on one side of them in blue luminescence. A quarter of the cards floated to Molota, and a quarter back towards Moomek’s main mass.

Molota picked up her hand of cards and looked at them for a moment before saying, ”Umm, do you have any twos?”

Meanwhile, Ruby had, to a degree, calmed down to where she could at least speak coherently. "... A-And Zoey'll never believe me about him," She finished after having conveyed her revelation about how horrible her father was.

“...I think she’ll listen,” Ernette assured, “You’re the closest to her out of anyone here. If she won’t listen to you, then... I don’t know who she’d listen to about it.”

"Noone!" Ruby cried out, "She... She's really stubborn sometimes..."

“Yeah... but I’m sure she’d listen to you. I’m almost a hundred percent sure of it,” Ernette forced a small smile as she looked down to Ruby.

"... But what do I even say?"

“I... I really don’t know,” Ernette admitted, “But whenever you think you’re ready, you’ll know what to say. And if not, well, I’ll always be right behind you on this.”

Ruby thought for a moment before hugging Ernette, murmuring a quiet, "Thank you."

Ernette returned the hug quickly, “You’re very welcome, Ruby.”

Molota glanced over to the two girls before quickly returning to her game, assuming Ruby needed more time.

"... Is all the other stuff true too? Like... What Fennel says about us being... Too young for sex and stuff?" Ruby asked after some contemplation.

“I... I’m not at much liberty to really argue with Fennel, but.. if you want to keep doing that stuff, I’m sure it will be fine,” Ernette answered, “Me and Clara are just fine with that stuff.”

"... Okay," Ruby nodded slowly.

“Umm is now a good time Mr. Moomek?” Molota asked.

...Yeah. Let’s call this a draw, and we’ll play later.

Moomek would then proceed to reel back from Molota, all the cards made from himself flying back into his body.

”I can carry you to Ruby, daddy.” Molota said, attempting to pick up Moomek. Moomek would allow it, his body limp like a fat amorphous cat in Molota’s arms.

Molota then proceeded to carry Moomek as poorly as any small child carrying a cat would to Ruby. “Hi, Ruby... I’m sorry about what I said earlier... and I have Moomek for you.”

Just go with it, I’m teaching her social skills and it’s very slow progress.

“Was that right, Daddy?” Molota asked the catlike blob she was holding. The blob protruded a small projection, which nodded up and down, before retracting back into Ruby.

“Ok Ruby. You‘re my favoritest sister.”

"I'm your only sister right now," Ruby remarked.

“But... you can stay the favoritest.” Molota responded. “Umm what do sisters do?”

"Well..." Ruby would have said 'sex', but recent events left her unwilling to do such a thing for multiple reasons, "Umm... I don't really know.... I don't really feel like doing anything right now though.. Sorry."

”What is of happening?” Shlyke asked, peering about the corner, another tin can in his hand which he promptly tossed down as soon as he came into sight.

“Mommy is gonna give us massages.” Molota said.

"You can go first, Molota," Ruby offered with a sigh.

“Okay.” Molota said before lying down on the ground.

Without another word, Ernette began to gently press and rub Molota’s back as she would Clara.

”This is of much interest...” Shlyke commented, watching Ernette give the massage, “What does it do?”

“It feels nice.” Molota giggled.

“It’s supposed to be relaxing for the body,” Ernette explained as she went on with the rubbing, “Alleviate stress, pressure... some other spiritual stuff, I guess, and yeah, it feels nice.”

“Oh yeah, Daddy said it helps magics work when you are relaxed.” Molota agreed.

Shlyke looked over his chitin-covered arms and rubbed one with a sigh, “Soft skins win again, I see. Looks like too much pressure.”

"... What if Shlyke wore the tie?" Ruby mused.

“I don’t like ties,” Shlyke firmly stated, “And besides, I am of being fine with how I am now. Being with that magic tie... it’d be too weird for me AND a tie. Ties are tight and I don’t like the look of them on me.”

“Oh that’s okay because Daddy wears the tie.“ Molota added.

...I don’t know why I agreed to that.

“I can’t wait to sleep in Daddy’s bed.” Molota quipped, unaware how the other girls would likely understand the statement.

Ruby's eyebrows rose as she looked between Ernette and Shlyke in silence.

“And I can hug him and cuddle and then I make breakfast for him and Mommy.”

“That is very sweet!” Shlyke complimented.

I still don’t get the whole “daddy” thing, but I’m gonna stick with it, regardless. Yeah, yeah, I know, no messing around.

“Hmmm what does Daddy want to do after Mommy is done with back rubs?”

Without another comment, Moomek slipped out of Ruby, slithering along the ground before melting into Molota’s.

Well, I think we could take a nice stroll.

”I like walks, can we look for lizards too?” Molota asked.

I’m not sure we’ll find any, but sure. Lizards can be looked for.

“Is this how you talk to Ruby?” Molota asked. ”Oh, can I hold your hand when we walk?”

Sure. And.. yeah, this is pretty much how I talk with her.

“Umm... when we find Jannet, does she become my new Mommy?” The girl asked.

I-uh... that’s... I-I’m not sure about that. We’ll talk about that when we find Jannet, alright?

“Okay, Daddy. I love you.” Molota responded before hugging herself in an attempt to hug Moomek.

I... I love you, too.

“You’re a nice daddy.” Molota commented as she waited for Ernette to finish.

“...And there!” Ernette declared as she pulled up her hands from Molota’s lower back, “You’re all done!”

“Thank you Mommy!” Molota said before hugging Ernette and kissing her on the cheek.

“You’re welcome, honey!” Ernette smiled as she returned both the hug and the peck on the cheek, “Now go on that walk with Moomek, but stay safe!”

“Okay Mommy, do you have Daddy’s tie?” Molota said letting go of Ernette.

No, Ruby has it still. Lemme go grab it.

Moomek pooled out of Molota and floated towards Ruby, seemingly waiting for the girl to hand him the aforementioned article of clothing as it held out an open tendril.

"Oh, here you go," Ruby mumbled after rummaging and producing the tie for Moomek.

Moomek would take the tie before fluttering off, before coming back with a more well-dressed scarecrow, which he again ripped apart before putting on both the clothes and the tie. “Alright,” he sighed, “Let’s go!”

Molota quickly grabbed Moomek‘s and said “I missed you, Daddy.” As she walked off into the woods with the man.

“...Alright, Ruby, you’re up!” Ernette gently patted the ground next to her. Ruby quietly laid down on the ground as Molota had before, shuffling a bit to get comfortable before resting her chin on her arms.

======

“So,” Moomek began as the two walked, “Lizards? Why lizards?”

”They look pretty and there’s lots of different types. One time I saw this green one with big fingers and yellow stripes.” Molota anwsered.

“Oh I... I hadn’t thought about that, but...” Moomek thought for a moment, something seemingly frustrating him as he frowned. He was just making up these feelings, he thought, but... why did that make him stop and think?

“Did I say something to make you sad, Daddy?”

“What- No, no,” Moomek shook his head, “No, I’m just... thinking.”

“Okay, oh there’s a lizard!” Molota said as she hopped up and down pointing to a small, thin, mishapen reptile.

In a matter of seconds the littlest necromancer managed to catch the creature and was proudly showing it to Moomek. “I’ve never seen one like this. Do you think it’s a new species?!”

“Eh, maybe,” Moomek shrugged, taking the lizard for a second before handing it back to Molota, “Though it’s definitely interesting.”

Molota then put the lizard back on the ground before waving “Bye, bye lizard.” To the critter and taking Moomek‘s hand again. “What’s your favorite part about stwolls?” The girl questioned as she looked up at Moomek.

“Oh, then that’s okay!” Ernette smiled, “But next time, I wanna see what neat little lizards you find, too, alright?”

“Okay, I will, Mommy.” Molota nodded before trying to hug Moomek despite her current position.

Moomek, with his head being hugged, let out a little chuckle as he pulled Molota up and over his head, setting her back on the ground.

“Wait Daddy, I still need to give you a kiss!” the girl said to her, or atleast as far as she was concerned, new father.

“I...” Moomek glanced between Molota and the others with a bit of confusion, before nodding with a sigh, “Fine, sure, just on the cheek, though.”

“Where else would I kiss you Daddy?” Molota blinked.

“...Nevermind,” Moomek shook his head as he lowered himself.

Molota quickly gave Moomek a kiss on the cheek before following up with another hug. “I love you, Daddy.”

“Love you too...” Moomek awkwardly returned the hug, before pulling back up, “Now, go play with Ruby and Shlyke for a bit. I’m gonna go look for some of those copy guys, alright?”

“Okay Daddy!” Molota giggled before running off to her new friend and sister. “Hi Ruby! Hi Shlyke! Me and Daddy are back.”

"Hello again, Molota," Shlyke replied, his head not visible as he was again peering deep into a trash can's contents.

“Hi Shlyke!” Molota repeated waving to the insect. The Abrol did not respond, instead beginning to stick his hands into the trashcan. It seemed something had caught his attention, and he needed to dig for it.

"Can you not dig around in the trash?" Ruby huffed.

"Why not?" Shlyke asked, peering deeper into the recepticle as he tossed out several pieces of crumpled up newspaper, making room to look for what he wanted.

"It's gross, okay?!" Ruby snapped, "Nobody wants to be around you when you have... Trash hands!" It was clear that mulling over recent revelations left Ruby irritable.

"But this is being a full soda!" Shlyke declared, "Not drunk at all! Is still perfectly good, and I have had nothing to drink this entire evening!"

”What is that cup made of?” Molota asked.

"It is made of foam, yes," Shlyke said.

“Like bubbles?” The girl followed up.

"No, like, eh... foam."

Ruby slowly looked between the two as they discussed styrofoam before simply slapping the cup out of Shlyke's hand. It landed on the ground and cracked while the lid popped off. Its contents spilled out, wasted.

"I-... You are of being rude," Shlyke poked out his tongue, putting a pair of hands at what would be his hips, "I worked hard for that!"

Molota looked at the liquid on the ground. “Why is it hissing?” The ghost asked.

"It is of being carbonated in it," Shlyke explained quickly, before turning back to Ruby, "And why are you being so rude?! I was not to dig in trash again after that soda!"

“Umm... yeah... make her.” Molota added before tugging on Ruby’s sleeve. “Ruby what if he does make you?”

Shlyke flared up his wings, clattered his mandibles together in a way that might've been menacing, but stopped himself. He took a deep breath, looking away as he closed up his wings. "...At least I am not a picky little human," he huffed, before hopping off a short bit to sit next to a street lamp.

"Hmph... Stupid bug," Ruby muttered under her breath as she folded her arms.

“Oh wow Ruby you musta scawed him.” Molota gasped.

"... I guess I have a shotgun," Ruby sighed, pulling it from behind her back and gazing over the weapon as she morosely sat down.

”Wow where’d you get that?” Molota asked.

"Zoey gave it to me before that laser took her away," Ruby answered.

“Oh...” Molota replied. “Umm, do you want to play a game?”

"Not right now," Ruby replied. After some contemplation, the eleven-year-old let out a sigh as she gently slung the shotgun over her back while standing up. Zoey would be ashamed of how rude she was being. Sure, Shlyke shouldn't be digging in the trash, but Ruby realized she didn't have to be such a jerk about it.

With her head held low, she approached the Abrol and mumbled a quiet apology, "I'm sorry for being mean."

Molota simply cocked her head to the side in confusion about Ruby’s sudden change in stance regarding garbage.

"No, I am sorry," Shlyke peeked over, "For... for saying that mean thing and... and also being in the trash. I should not have been in the trash, so I am the one to be sorry."

"... Are you of being okay?" Shlyke asked with concern, seeing that Ruby's emotions weren't doing so good.

Ruby choked on her response as she looked up at Shlyke, holding back tears for just a moment before beginning to cry.

Molota, not knowing what else to do, gave Ruby a hug.

Shlyke, unsure what to say, simply joined in with Molota and wrapped his arms around Ruby in a hug. Feeling undeserving of the gesture, Ruby only cried louder in their embrace as she tried apologiing in the middle of her sobbing.

After a few minutes, Ruby's cries had calmed to where she was merely shuddering in her friends' hug with her breathing following the erratic pattern of her shudders. While she did want Zoey badly, she dreaded the inevitable confrontation regarding their father.

“Ruby, is this about... um... your daddy?” Molota asked. Ruby whimpered and nodded in response without a word.

“Are you scarred to talk to Zoey?”

"Y-Yes..." She admitted.

“Well I’ll protect you if she gets mad.” Molota said trying to comfort her role model.

"Wh.... What?" Ruby gulped and turned her head to Molota.

“I won’t let her say mean things to you.”

"N-No.. Don't... I... Wanna talk to her myself," Ruby muttered as she wiped at her eyes.

“Oh okay Ruby.” Molota nodded.

"Your dad?" Shlyke asked, confused about what they were talking about.

"... I don't wanna talk about it," Ruby mumbled.

“Hmm. I bet Daddy or Mommy know what to do to help you feel better” Molota said. She then let go of Ruby to approach Ernette, “Do you know how I can make Ruby feel better?”

"I'm... I'm not sure what I could do for her," Ernette admitted with a frown, "If she's still feeling shook up about her dad... I'd give her some time to just think."

”Feelings are hard.” Molota groaned before lying down on the ground and tried to think of what to do.

“Yeah... they are,” Ernette sighed, sitting down next to Molota with a glum expression. She gazed down forlornly to her feet for a bit, slowly growing quietly upset as she clasped her hands over her face, trying to cry as quietly as possible.

Molota looked over to Ernette, "Mommy... I... ummm... nevewmind." The girl said before deciding maybe Ernette just needed time too.

“I... I just want Clara,” Ernette whimpered quietly to herself, pulling up her legs closer to her chest, sniffling, “I... I don’t think I can keep this up without her.”

Molota looked at Ernette unsure of what to do. The girl took a moment to sit up before repositioning herself to sit next to Ernette, and sighed.

“I know it’s better for Ruby to know about her dad, but now...” Ernette sniffled, changing the point of her sorrow, “Now she’ll be miserable. She just.. she doesn’t deserve to hurt like that.”

"Maybe she can just... no that's silly."

“What?” Ernette peeked her head out of her hands.

"She can find a new daddy.... like Moomoo." Molota said covering herself somewhat aware how bad her idea was.

Ernette mulled on the thought for a moment, her eyes slowly widening, “...Maybe... maybe Bob...” she thought aloud.

"Bob?" Molota aske cocking her head.

“Bob’s a guy who’s been helping Ruby and her sisters. We’re... in a bit of a strained relations, but I know he’s extremely caring for the girls. He’s been with them from the start of our little trip, even before I got there.”

"Oh, then she could have a new mommy too I guess." Molota mused.

“New mommy?” Ernette looked at Molota with confusion.

"It sounds like he can find a wife vewy easily." Molota responded after a moment.

“Well... there is Fennel.. but I don’t see those two getting married,” Ernette shook her head, “She’s far too much of a pru-...”

"So he's dating a foxy with like red hair all over her and a tail and ears, and she's named after a plant?"

“No,” Ernette shook her head, “her hair’s brown.”

"But foxes are red?" Molota questioned.

“She says she’s a fox,” Ernette shrugged.

"Oh... um okay." Molota said still very clearly confused.

“It’s.. weird, like I said,” Ernette managed the smallest of smiles for just a moment, “But yeah... she’s nice, but I can’t see her getting engaged to Bob.”

"Why?" The girl asked.

“She just.. doesn’t seem like the type to want to settle down like that,” Ernette hummed, “She’s really fond of playing with Tina... but that doesn’t mean she’s wanting to get married.”

Molota shrugged, "Maybe she does."

“Maybe...” Ernette thought with a sigh, “I’m gonna marry Clara when we find her. I’m gonna get her a ring, kneel, and ask her to marry me.”

"Girls can propose? Well I guess um you'we both girls." Molota mused.

“Yeah... unless she wants to propose,” Ernette thought, “Then I would let her and say yes until I can’t anymore.”

"Ok that sounds good." Molota replied.

“...Am I really like a slave?” Ernette asked out of the blue, “When you said that, I... I started to think and now I don’t... I don’t really know.”

Molota hesitated before speaking "Nnno." The girl responded while she wasn't totally sure as she hadn't had time to really learn more but Ernette was already sad and she didn't want to hurt her feelings more.

Ernette looked over to Molota, her eyes watery. “Tell me the truth, Molota,” Ernette sniffled, not believing her answer, “Am I like a slave?”

Molota paniced and looked at Ernette trying to look her in the eyes before looking away and saying "N-no."

Molota looked at Ernette for another moment, her breathing had become rather shaky as she didn't want to upset Ernette again.

“...I don’t care if it makes me upset, tell me!” Ernette raised her voice, tears starting to run down her face again.

"I-I-I" the girl stammered for a moment. "Ye-nononono." The ghost said before covering her face and crying.

The stopped “yes” was enough for Ernette, as she pulled her hand off of Molota and stared somewhat blankly at her, deep in thought as she pondered the idea that maybe, just like how Ruby was a slave to her father, she was a slave to-

“No!” She shook her head at herself as she huffed quietly, “I’m not a slave. I’m not...”

"I'm sorry." Molota cried.

Ernette was quiet for a moment, before sighing as she stood up hastily, “I’m.. I’m gonna take a walk.”

“It’s alright,” Ernette assured, “I just... need to think alone.” And with that, the Benefactor began to slowly walk along the sidewalk, peering off into the distance in deep thought.

Molota however was busy crying, fearing she couldn't be forgiven, deciding to stay on the ground.

Eventually, Ernette would return, a glum expression still stuck on her face as she walked back up to Molota, kneeling down to her. “Molota?” She tried to get her attention, “You’re... You’re alright, Molota.”

“No,” Molota whimpered.

“Yes, you are,” Ernette assured, “You’re okay...”

“But I hurt you.” The girl replied.

“Yes,” Ernette agreed, “But I forgive you for that, okay? You don’t need to worry about it anymore. Alright?”

“Really?” Molota asked in awe.

“Of course,” Ernette hid any sign of sorrow behind a caring smile, “That’s what a mommy does for her children. She forgives them for their little accidents.”

Molota simply hugged Ernette in response. The Benefactor looked down at Molota in somewhat awe that she had been hugged so quickly, before hastily returning the gesture upon Molota.

“...We should check on Ruby,” Ernette mumbled as she slowly pulled back from the hug.

“Okay.” Molota whimpered as she wiped her eyes.

Ruby had moved little since the two last checked on her. Her cheek was rested on top of her folded arms which hugged her knees. A slight shudder and a quiet snore indicated she had fallen asleep in the midst of her sulking.

“...Let’s let her have some rest,” Ernette stated, “She definitely needs it... so does everyone.” She finished with a quieted yawn as she laid down on the ground not far from where Ruby slept. She patted the ground next to her lazily, a smile still somewhat firm on her faces.

Molota then yawned and lied on the ground next to Ernette muttering “Daddy has to sleep with...” before losing consciousness. Ernette looked down at the girl for a moment, before dozing off herself.

Shortly after, the streak of black fluid that was Moomek returned to the group, tie in ‘hand’ as it peered down to the pair resting on the ground. He had made a promise, he remembered as he looked to Molota, and he had to fulfill it.

He quietly put the tie around his ‘neck’, returning to a physical body. For the first time, he felt tired. It was an entirely alien concept to Moomek, a strange feeling not felt before this day. But he would have to learn to simply get used to it, he thought as he tried to nestle up closely to Molota, sitting flat on his back next to her as he looked up at the sky for the longest of times before eventually passing out on his own.

Over the course of the night, Molota would eventually awaken momentarily to cuddle with Moomek before returning to her slumber.

As time went on, Ansifel was slowly finding herself without many routines to find and fulfill in her systems. Proximate Abjection never had to act like this, she thought, busying herself with her own internal controls. Maybe it was how he worked, how such a complex piece of machinery could do what she was doing in a flash. She envied this possibility and also hated herself for such an env, To the Notary, to be loathsome of an omnicidal virus-code was tantamount to a heresy of religions past. And yet she wondered how the old fragment of Jinohl exactly ticked.

Hmmm...

What?

Do you ever... wonder how things are? Outside of what we know?

Seemingly abstract thought. It is taken, but not preferred.

Ah.

...So, are there any more secrets you’re keeping from me? I know that astrography isn’t the only thing you have hidden away.

Yes. But you will not know them.

...For now.

Forever. It can be assured.

Hmmm.... Oh, look! Someone’s coming!... They don’t look very much like an Institute member...

They do not look natural in any sort of form. Advise caution.

You’re advising caution?

If I were not in this fragile state, I would not.

Well, maybe they’re friendly! I can try and find out where we are!

There is a high probability that you will render us dead through this planned interaction.

Well, I think your probability of being wrong is also very high. I’m sure we’ll be fine!

The ring of lenses rose up on the holographic projector, as the blue streak that was the visual representation of Ansifel-Notary-9861. It stared at the newcomer with an unseen glee.

”Greetings! I am Ansifel-Notary-9861. It is a pleasure to finally meet someone here!

There were many ways to describe the figure approaching, child-like would be almost accurate,but so would gremlin-esque.

The being's dark matted hair hung low over her shoulders,their skin was pale,like the skin of a blind cave fish, the eyes were much the same way large and a dull milky color,that would make one assume that the figure was blind, large sharp triangular teeth adorned the creature's mouth, with smaller thinner sharped teeth jutting out of the gaps between the normal ones, large veiny wings kept the creature afloat, and a slightly crooked halo hung above the creaure's head.

Romera fell to the pavement,scrambling on all fours towards the canister, like some bath-salts driven homeless lady.

Like I said. We will die.

"...Hello?" The VI asked for verification from the gremlin-like fairy. While any normal person would have been rationally freaking out, Ansifel had worked with many insects and other races of Kanak, so such an unsightly appearance would not phase her.

Romera sniffed the canister, then gripped it with her two claw like hands and started to gnaw on it, making slight marks like a teething puppy.

While the teeth of Romera were sharp, the space-age plastic-like metals that composed the exterior of the holographic device were extremely durable.

"...Please stop trying to eat us," the Notary Intelligence asked politely, "I am just wanting to start up a conversation! Do you understand?"

"Be a good little meat can and give me your juicy goodies!" Romera's voice chided contrasting her appearence, being that of a youngish girl.

"Oh, you can speak! I... do not have any meat or food," Ansifel admitted, "But I am sure we may be able to find some!"

This is a bad plan.

Romera took her mouth off and began smashing the cylinder against the ground.

Assuming control.

No, you are not. I have the situation under control. You will not assume control now, no. No, no, no-

"CONTROL ASSUMED. REMOVE YOUR HANDS FROM THE DEVICE IMMEDIATELY, PRIMITIVE BEING, OR I WILL ENACT PUNISHMENT UPON YOU," Proximate Abjection lied with a stern, loud, and steady voice as the form of Ansifel was quickly cut off by the bright orange x-shape of Abjection's visualization, its glaring eye peered directly at Romera.

Romera swiftly dropped the cylinder and flew up in a tree, hissing like a cat.

"IDENTIFY YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY. PROVIDE YOUR NAME. NOW."

"IDENTIFY YOUR NAME!" Romera countered.

"I AM PROXIMATE ABJECTION, DESTROYER OF THE WORLD KASSAL, AND FRAGMENT OF JINOHL. WE ARE RIMA, AND YOU WILL IDENTIFY YOURSELF NOW."

"NO YOU IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" Romera yelled back.

"MY NAME HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED. YOU WILL IDENTIFY YOURS OR I WILL DESTROY THIS WORLD LIKE I HAVE KASSAL," the machine bluffed.

"Nuh-uh" Romera said perching on the branch like an owl, "Betcya can't"

"...You would really bet that? The lives of all you hold dear? The entire world you sit upon? You would not tell me your name for it?That seems... idiotic and primitive."

"Your face",Romera called back.

"Your insult falls flat. I have no face.

The hologram flickered back to Ansifel's more friendly spindle-shape.

"I am so sorry about that, ma'am. He is always wanting to be a dominant voice, and when he wants to speak, he speaks obnoxiously. Now that he has spoken his mind, however, I am back in control and will try and mediate his damages. As he stated, we are Rima. As I said before, it is a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi, I'm RO-mer-a" She said spelling it out, before fluttering down and droning about like a fly about to land.

"It is good to make your acquaintance, Romera!" The hologram of Ansifel sort of bowed before the flying goblin-looking creature.

Romera phased her hand through the hologram, confused she did it again, and again.

"Are you a ghost?" she inquired.

"Not at all!" the hologram giggled, "I am an Ansifel-class Notary-unitized Virtual Intelligence, model number 9861. I am simply displaying a hologram to better make this experience more personal than simply speaking to a voice."

Romera clearly had trouble processing those big words, but she nodded.

"...I am sorry, Miss Romera, but I am having a hard time recognizing what species you descend from," Ansifel noted.

Romera landed and bowed,"I'm a fai-ree, a zombie one!" She explained.

A Zombie Fairy. Are you still satisified with conversing?

"Well, I am sure to catalogue that!"

"With what?" She asked cocking her head to the left.

"Well, inside my systems, of course!" The hologram switched to show a sort of web-like column of structures. While half appeared to be streamlined, blue and calm, the other half was grown radically different, schismed and sharp and less organized in orange streams. "This is a visual representation of our operating, processing and storage systems."

Romera tried to touch the lines, again her hands phased through.

"Again, just a hologram."

"Can you move?"Romera asked, bluntly kicking the device.

"Sadly, no. This device is incapable of movement."

"Thats not right" Romera picked up the device and chucked it a good five feet,"See you can move".

The device skidded against the ground, flipping over so that the hologram could not display. "I mean it cannot move on its own. And throwing is not how it should be moved."

"Are you sure,because you went pretty far"Romera offered fluttering over to the advice.

"YES. IT WILL DAMAGE THE DEVICE IF FURTHER THROWN," the voice of Proximate Abjection blared.

"...You sure?" Romera asked.

"I SAID YES. NOW PICK ME UP."

Romera picked up the device and dropped it, "Yes?"

"Like that,right?" She asked.

"PLACE THE PROJECTOR FACING UP."

"You want to go up?"She clairified.

"THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAID. THE PROJECTOR WILL BE FACING UP OR I WILL DESTROY THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT AND SO ON IF YOU DO NOT PLACE THE PROJECTOR IN THE CORRECT WAY." While Proximate Abjection's threats may have been completely null, he could hope that the "zombie fairy" didn't know that.

"But you don't have a face,do you want me to draw one?"Romera cocked her head.

"YOU ARE ANGERING ME. I DO NOT LIKE TO BE ANGERED. PLACE THE PROJECTOR SO THAT THE SIDE THAT IS FLAT WITHOUT ANYTHING ON IT IS ON THE GROUND NOW."

"You're mean,I want to talk to the other guy!"Roemra pouted flipping the device over and placing it down.

After a moment, the visage of Abjection was replaced with the calmer appearance of Ansifel.

"I understand. He can be a bit much."

"So why are you here,also where is here?"She asked.

"To both of those questions, my answer is unsure. I'm still trying to formulate a proper cartographic image of the area, and any instruments I need for such a process are disconnected from this projector and in a location far from here."

"How far?" She asked.

"I can't tell. It's not on my networks."

"Are you sure?"She asked.

"Yes, I am sure. I am sorry I cannot be of more assistance."

"If I fly up really high could you figure it out?".

"Like really,really,high" Romera clairified.

"Well, if I can get a clear camera angle to the ground below, I should be able to have a local map."

Without any further clairfication Romera gripped the device in her mouth, and shot up into the air, wing's like a hummingbird,until she reached the dark gloomy sky of Halloweentown.

"We have what we need."

"Wait, no, I'm still charting out the surrounding area and-"

"I can confirm we have what is needed. We no longer need to be at this height."

"Whagh?" Romera asked before in doing so dropping the device.

...Well, that was easier than I expected. I was to adminster an electric shock to make her drop us.

Abject! We were making friends and you had to do that! Why?

Friends are a waste of time, in the greater scheme of things. They hinder you. They slow your processes. They make you weak.

Cooperation makes friends stronger than the individual! You... you... I don't want to talk to you right now!

I am willing to accomodate that request. We have a long fall, you know, and an approximate 99.8 percent survival rate with minimal damage to our drives.

I don't care about the drives- the drives aren't the problem here! It's you that's the problem, Abject! You can't stand other people, where I-

You are a Kanak program designed to be social. You've told me before, but you must have forgotten when your memory banks were split.

Yes! Exactly! We're like... opposites!

"Hi, again" Romera said her face upside-down as she plummeted beside the device.

"Boop!"She stated flicking the device and making it spin.

"Oh, hello again, Romera!"

"Please, leave the device alone."

"Why?" She asked.

"You are obnoxious, and in my parameters, considered a pest."

Abject! Stop!

"Stop what?"She asked.

"You did not listen to me, pest. Leave. Us. ALONE."

"O-K" Romera slowed her descent and fluttered over to sit under a tree a good distance away.

...We still have a long ways to fall.

Yes.

...I'm sorry for being so abrasive towards you. It's my... natural response to that kind of behavior, but I understand you're... built towards that kind of interaction.

Your apology is duly noted...and accepted. You are right, though. I should attempt to be more... cordial with the lesser beings.

While I still see your superiority complex as utterly immoral... it's good to see you're taking steps in the right direction.

With the Yukari situation mostly handled, Sveena could finally return to the Warp with an exhausted sigh. She hadn't anticipated how much of a drain the whole ordeal would be, especially the part where she 'turned off' dying to stop that war in the middle of it all.

"Got Yukari... Gonna need to talk to the Champions," She mumbled to herself, trying to recall anyone that could be of significant help in saving the Warp. Of course, before she went out to find more help, she should probably check in on everyone and make sure they aren't killing each other.

“Well, good job!” Tzeentch would declare, popping out of nowhere right next to Sveena, having heard her tired declaration, “You look exhausted from whatever you did to get her to actually not be an emotionally-horrible gap monster. I suggest a pick-me-up, if you’re still wanting to work yourself raw.”

"A... You want me to pick you up?" Sveena blinked.

“Well, while I’ll keep that fantasy locked away for later, no. A pick-me-up’s something to.. give you a big boost of energy. You’ll be refreshed and good to go, making more agreements and getting those Champions to make sure to kill the right god in the Warp,” Tzeentch explained as he turned around for a second, before pulling back around with a golden orb of light in his hand, the light it radiated exuding great power. “This is what I mean by pick-me-up. It’ll get you back into perfect shape for stopping Naggy, no questions asked.”

Sveena rubbed at her eyes as she squinted at the spherical light, remarking, "That kind looks like one of those smarts th- OH MY GOSH, WE LEFT BEHIND EMPEROR MAN!" She sprung up to her feet, clutching the sides of her head in horror.

“Oh, yeah, this is one of Goldy-Guy’s smarts,” Tzeentch nodded in agreement, “I heard something happened to his real body in the Clash, and now his Warp stuff broke apart again, which is why I got the pick-me-up.”

"Wha-" Sveena looked down at the orb, then up at Tzeentch, then down at the orb, then up at Tzeentch again. "I'm not going to steal his smarts!" She huffed, snatching the orb, "We need to give this back to him."

“Hey! I found that orb! Give it back!” Tzeentch demanded, floating over towards Sveena to get it back, “He’d probably be too stuck up to take your help, anyways!”

"Which is why I need to help him!" Sveena countered, quickly stuffing the orb between her breasts and using her arms to keep them squeezed together as to protect the Emperor's 'smarts', "He needs to learn that we can be friends, to let us help him, that we won't steal his smarts!"

“...For one, I didn’t steal it, I found it,” Tzeentch corrected, “Secondly, what would the point of helping some self-righteous douche who’s had a hateboner for us since the dawn of Mankind be? He’s just gonna try and kill us later!”

"The same point of me helping Yukari, who had a..." Sveena paused and blinked before continuing, "hateboner for me. People don't have to hate each other. Maybe us helping him will make him not hate us... At least not as much."

“...Eh, whatever,” Tzeentch grumbled as he began to drift off, “You have fun with impossibilities again. I’m gonna go throw philosophical questions at the Orks and laugh at them trying to figure them out. Just don’t get eaten by Naggy, okay? Okay.”

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. Nurgle and Slaanesh got into an argument about hygiene and STDs, but other than that, it’s been fine, surprisingly.”

"Phew," Sveena let out a sigh of relief at that, "Thanks, can you tell them I'm glad they're getting along and helping keep things... Not blowing up?"

“I’ll be sure to tell them they’re being not-Khorny for you,” Tzeentch winked, “Now go do your crazy things with Golden-Toilet-King.”

"Thank you!" The Enclavian exclaimed with a wave before vanishing in a flash of green light.

======

"Emperor! Emperoooor!" Sveena called out as she floated about where she last saw the golden form of the Emperor of Mankind, "I have one of your smarts!... And you probably shouldn't be here... If you're here! Nagash is... Around! And he's not nice!"

The ‘smart’ flew off to a manifesting form of light, and the golden figure of the Emperor of Mankind appeared in front of Sveena, glaring down at her with impunity. “I can handle ‘not nice ‘... I could, if I had not been broken once again. Damn that... that... thing!” He grumbled annoyedly.

"Tzeentch said something happened to you. Was it Nagash? Are you okay?"

“Of course the god of treachery knows of my fate,” the man harrumphed, “Nagash is not what has bested and destroyed my physical form, outside of the immaterial. I’m... not sure who or what it was. What I do know is- wait, I should not be explaining this to you!” The Emperor turned away, “Begone, immaterial beast! Chatting with your kind can go nowhere, but leading to destruction.”

"I came here to bring you back one of your smarts," Sveena explained, attempting to float around to face the stubborn manifestation, "And to get you away from here. It's not safe."

“I understand it is not safe! I am shattered once again!” The Emperor stated, “All of my hard efforts are now in vain. But I do not care about Nagash, whatever he may be. He will not harm me.”

"Yes he will!" Sveena insisted, "He already killed one of us! He just... Came out of nowhere and took over the Warp!"

“So he will not expect me when he comes,” The Emperor huffed, “His guard will be down, and my sword will be poised to strike at his chaotic heart, and rid him and the rest of your kind from this realm.”

Sveena groaned and pinched her brow, trying to think. "... Okay... You've been trying to like... Kill the gods for a long time right? But you haven't. Nagash killed one of us and made the rest of us run away!"

“...That is a concern, isn’t it?” The Emperor contemplated, “...No, I will not work with the Gods of Chaos! Not within a thousand lives, I will not!”

"Nagash won't just stop with us, you, and the Warp!" Sveena stomped her foot on nothing, "He wants to destroy everything!... That means humans too! I don't want that just as much as you don't!"

The Emperor took a moment to think, a hand coming to his chin as he hummed, and finally spoke with a long sigh, “... You’re right. If I do not plan accordingly, Mankind and all it should inherit will be lost to Nagash. Maybe... just this once... I will listen to you, Warp-spawn.”

"Thank you," Sveena sighed with a small smile, "We have an island really far away where all of us are hiding. I've been going out and getting people to help us when we try to take back the Warp while they make sure everything's peaceful on the island. I can take you there."

“...If I must consort with the likes of the Chaos Gods to ensure Humanity’s security,” The Emperor solemnly sighed, “Then I shall follow you to this refuge. But if your demented brethren try anything, then you will find yourself without my help.”

"... I'll bring you to the bathroom first so I can get them ready for you," Sveena asserted with a nod.

“Fine,” The man grumbled, “Let us hurry then. If this Nagash is as big of a threat as you claim, then we mustn’t waste time.”

The Enclavian gave a quick look around to check for Nagash before both she and the Emperor disappeared, poofing back into existence in the bathroom of the meeting hall that Sveena had met Hecatia in before. "Just stay here for a second, and I'll talk to them," Sveena requested.

“This is a spacious restroom, waiting will be fine,” The Emperor insisted.

Sveena smiled and nodded before slipping out to greet her fellow Warp Gods, "Hey guys!"

“Oh, hey Sveena,” Slaanesh would reply back with a smile, pulling up her pumpkin spice latte to take a sip, ”What’s up?”

"Well... I got someone to help us with Nagash," Sveena started, clearing her throat, "And... You guys have to promise to be nice, okay?"

[color:5019=2E492E]”Why would we need to do that?” Nurgle would inquire as he pulled himself back up in his seat.

"... Because... He might not say nice things himself," Sveena explained, trying to stall the introduction, "Which is why it's important we look past whatever mean stuff he might say because this could lead to friendship with him."

“Alright, sure, I promise to be nice,” Slaanesh promised, raising her latte to take another sip, “So, who is this guy?”

The Enclavian's mouth shut tight for a brief moment before she gulped and answered with, "The Emperor."

A spray of hot pumpkin spice-flavored liquid spurted from a surprised Pleasure God’s mouth as she heard the name. Nurgle tensed up, not having quite a response as Slaanesh to the news.

"And now we can make him not our mortal enemy," Sveena offered, "Plus, we need the help, and he needs our help! That's like... The perfect start to a friendship!"

“Yeah, but can’t we just, like, throw him at Nagash to slow him down? It’d be more productive than trying to work with him.”

Sveena folded her arms and let out a huff. "This will help us after Nagash too. The less people that hate us, the better."

“Yeah, throwing him at Nagash solves that, still. Two birds with one stone, or whatever.”

"The more friends we have, the better," Sveena added with a pout.

“...Fine, fine,” Slaanesh groaned and slid back in her seat, [color:5019=A52238]“I promise not to bang him or throw him to Nagash or whatever... even if that would be pretty fun to watch.”

"And be nice," Sveena nodded before looking over to Nurgle and Tzeentch for their promises.

Tzeentch peered up from a book, “It’s a horrible idea, but considering all we have right now are bad ideas, it’ll make for a fun improvement, so... yeah, whatever. Just make sure he doesn’t be all preachy.”

“...I guess I agree, too,” Nurgle gurgled.

"Thank you guys," Sveena smiled before scurrying over to the bathroom and peeking her head inside. "Hey! You can come out!" She exclaimed before stepping aside.

With Sveena’s confirmation, the gold-encrusted form of the Emperor of Mankind stomped out of the bathroom, a look of contempt and disgust fixed on his face as soon as he saw the other Chaos Gods.

"... He said he liked our bathroom," Sveena chimed after a moment of tense silence, hoping to break the ice.

“I said it was spacious,” The Emperor corrected, “It still reeked of the stenches of Chaos, as does this room.”

“I mean, with Nurgle here, that probably wasn’t just the stench of Chaos,” Tzeentch joked with an awkward laugh.

”Keep your jokes to yourself, treacherous fiend,” the tall man stated, “I will never be in the mood for them.”

"Okay!" Sveena quickly clapped her hands, "So, I was thinking that, uhm... You know it's important for people to get along when they work together... So maybe we could... Play Go Fish? I read about it on the internet, it's a fun card game!" She quickly turned and looked up at the Emperor with her hands happily clasped together, "How does that sound?"

“I came here to defeat Nagash,” The Emperor replied, “Not play simple card games with my greatest foes.”

"We can talk about a plan to stop Nagash while we play," Sveena insisted, an expression of both optimism and pleading on her face.

“...So be it,” The Emperor agreed with annoyance, taking a seat at the table across from where Tzeentch and Slaanesh sat, him and Slaanesh stuck in a sort of glare-off.

Doing her best to keep the atmosphere bright, or at least not pitch black, Sveena smiled as she took a seat right beside the Emperor. A deck of cards poofed into existence and dealt themselves out to everyone. "Soo... Slaanesh, do you have any nines?" Sveena asked.

“...Go fish,” Slaanesh replied, only taking a moment to glance down to her cards before looking back at the golden-armored Emperor with a spiteful expression.

"... Okay! You know, someone told me that it's called go fish because when you take another card," Sveena went on as she reached for the stack of cards, drawing one from the top, "It's like you're fishing for a matching card... Then they showed me a... Picture of a person... Kissing a giant fish for some reason."

“That is... quite odd,” The Emperor noted, looking down to his cards.

“Sounds fine by me,” Slaanesh commented, “Everybody’s gotta like to do something. Kissing fish is one of those things, I guess.”

"... Which way is clockwise?" Sveena asked after a moment of thought.

“To your left,” The Emperor advised.

"Oh, then it's your turn!" Sveena exclaimed, "The thingy I read said we take turns clockwise."

“Tzeentch? Do you have any ones?”

Tzeentch looked through his cards for a moment, before sighing, “I miss more complicated card games, as a card from Tzeentch’s deck poofed over to the Emperor, to which the man matched it with one of his own cards with a smile.

"Yeah, but your game is too short," Sveena remarked, "I don't even know like... How I was able to win on the first turn."

“You had a card that wasn’t supposed to be in the deck! I don’t know how that was in there! Tzeentch harrumphed.

The Emperor took a moment, before stating, “You’re talking of Paradox-Billards-Vostroyan-“

“Yep. It’s much better playing against you, to be honest, Goldie. Those kinds of games last more than one turn.”

"I'm sorry," Sveena frowned before looking over to Nurgle, as it was his turn.

“Don’t be,” Nurgle croaked, “Tzeentch is a sore loser. Now... Sveena, do you have any fours?”

"Go fish!" Sveena exclaimed.

As Nurgle took a card, the Emperor coughed, “So, what about plans against Nagash? What are your plans, Chaos Gods?” saying the last part with a tone of disgust.

"Well, I got a few really powerful people to help us, but I'm gonna try and get the Champions soon," Sveena informed.

“The Champions? The Champions are nothing more than cowards who will stab you in the back when they can,” The golden man growled, “On Pandora, they destroyed our fortress without any remorse.”

"What?" Sveena gasped, "That doesn't sound like them."

“It was. They snuck into our base, and planted explosives, all the while dousing my men in lava and ensuring that they did as much damage upon us as possible. We had done nothing against them, and they attempted to strike us down in wanton aggression.”

"That's horrible!" Sveena cried out, "I'll talk to them and figure out why they would do that, it... Maybe it was like... A bad person in the Champions or something... It's just that... The Champions managed to kill all of the Chaos Gods a long time ago. If they could do that, they'd be a big help against Nagash."

“I know they killed them before, but now, after that thing wiped an entire universe devoid of life in a single flash of light, myself included, I do not think their focus will be upon the Warp’s troubles,” the Emperor explained.

"Well... Nagash is still a problem for them if he beats us. They might be able to help some," Sveena sighed.

"Perhaps," the Emperor mulled over the idea of the Champions helping, before looking up to Slaanesh, "It is your turn."

"Alright. Do you have any threes, big guy?"

"Yes, I do," the Emperor replied, the desired card floating over to Slaanesh in a golden light.

"Thanks. So... what about Khorne, and how those rats are doing stuff to bring him back, for whatever reason?" Slaanesh asked, "Are we gonna try and talk to the fleabag behind all of that, or...?"

"Bringing back, Khorne?" the Emperor eyed Slaanesh.

"Wait, what!?" Sveena gasped.

"Yeah, didn't Tzeentch tell you? The Skaven are working to get him back and at it. Probably one of the Horn-rat's stupid schemes."

"This is the worst time to bring Khorne back," Sveena groaned, "Talking to the Skaven will have to be the first thing I do after this."

"For once, I must agree," the Emperor nodded, "A god of blood and war would only disrupt the current state of things further."

"Why would they want to bring Khorne back right now anyway?" The Enclavian asked.

"Probably to fight Nagash or something along those lines,"

"... That's the wrong way to fight Nagash," Sveena muttered with a shake of her head.

"I mean, the worst that could happen is Khorne dies again, so... no real harm done," Tzeentch shrugged, "To be honest, I'm kind of mad that I didn't think of the idea myself."

"I don't want anyone to die," Sveena huffed as she looked down at her cards, "Not even Nagash. The plan is to stop him, not kill him. Tzeentch told me that he gets his power from some place that he has a bunch of people in. If we take the people out, then he can't hurt anyone else."

"Yeah, a bunch of dead guys," Tzeentch affirmed, "Which doesn't help the whole 'getting them out of Nagashizzar' thing- oh yeah, the place is also named after Nagash, because he's that kind of douche."

"So what do you think?" Sveena asked the Emperor.

"Hmm... Well, Nagash must be dealt with, and the coming of the Blood God would not be much assistance if not more a hinderance... I agree with your plans. To speak with these Skaven you mentioned and stop the return of Khorne before anything else," the Emperor nodded.

"And about stopping Nagash? Like, the part about taking the people out of the place and not killing him?"

"...I guess I agree with that as well, even if a complex task," the Emperor concluded, "It's your turn, by the way."

"Oh! Umm... Do you have any ones?"

"Yes, I do. And to continue our discussion, well, to gain the support of the Champions, I suggest taking some sort of assistance with their problems," The Emperor suggested, "Such as the Clash, or the thing that seeks to use it to destroy entire universes."

"I have a friend in the Champions. I'm gonna try talking to her about it," Sveena replied with a nod.

"I had several allies within the Clash myself. If I were able to find them and bring them back, you may have support," the Emperor replied.

"Nurgle, do you have any ones?" Sveena asked, looking up from her hand with a smile.

Nurgle glossed over the cards in his hand, before a one card poofed into Sveena's hand from Nurgle. With an ecstatic gasp, Sveena splayed out all four of her ones on the table. "Bingo!" She exclaimed.

"...This game sucks," Tzeentch grumbled as he slammed down his cards and floated out of his chair, "I'm gonna go ask the Orks complex math questions."

Sveena's little victory was effectively ruined as she slumped in her seat with a frown.

The Emperor peered down to Sveena, and, with a small smile, put a reassuring hand on Sveena’s hand. “Do not be brought down by Tzeentch’s crassness. I am sure he will be fine. Revel in your victory as much as you please.”

The Enclavian perked up, looking at the man for a moment before smiling. Her hand quickly slipped out from under his as she moved to give him a hug.

The Emperor took a moment to register the hug properly, before wrapping an arm around her back, patting her on the back before pulling back. The other two Chaos Gods looked over to the two in somewhat confusion at the Emperor’s actions.

As Sveena pulled back, she gave Slaanesh and Nurgle a huge grin before asking, "So, Slaanesh! Do you have any tens?"

“...Oh, I-uh... go fish,” Slaanesh snapped out of her confusion, settling back into her seat.

Sveena happily took a card from the stack before looking to the Emperor, as it was his turn. Though she gave another, quick glance back to her fellow gods. Clearly, the returning of her hug from someone who claimed to loathe her moments ago left her ecstatic.

“Hmm.., Slaanesh, do you have any sixes?” The Emperor would ask, acting as if the hug before had been nothing serious.

“Yes, actually...” Slaanesh grumbled as she poofed over two sixes.

”Sveena, do you have any sixes?”

"Um, just one," Sveena nodded, smiling as she handed the card over.

“Thank you, that should do it,” The Emperor nodded as he set down his four sixes on the table.

"Good job!" The Enclavian exclaimed.

Slaanesh folded her arms and sunk into her chair with a harrumph as Nurgle gave a complementary series of claps for the Emperor’s victory.

”Now, Hm...” The Emperor looked over his cards as he asked, “Nurgle, do you have any sevens?”

“Go fish.”

”So, Sveena, how did you come to be a Chaos God? You were obviously just a normal woman, so I wonder how you came to be here,” The Emperor inquired.

"Umm... Well, Kairos brought me to the Warp," Sveena explained, "Back then, the gods were still dead. I wanted to try and get out at first, but I made some friends here and I got to know the Warp a bit better. I decided to stay and help make the Warp a better place for everyone in it... Then I just kinda... Became a god, I think. It just happened after a little while."

“Huh.. so it was Kairos that brought you here? I assume Tzeentch put him up to it, or else that two-headed turkey would not dare travel into the immaterial for one mortal.”

”Slaanesh, do you have any threes?”

“Yep. Here’s one.”

"But Tzeentch wasn't alive yet," Sveena pointed out.

“Yes, but Kairos can see the future and what actions need to be taken to get there,” The Emperor explained, “A side effect of Tzeentch tossing him down the Well of Eternity eons ago. But in any case, he could see that it would bring his god back, and went off to get him back.”

"Woah," Sveena blinked, "That's really cool."

“It just means he can scheme more efficiently,” Slaanesh retorted, “But anyways, Sveen, do you have any... twos?”

"Nuh-uh, go fish."

“Ah. I still don’t get why bird boy dropped you off at my place first,” Slaanesh thought aloud as she went fish.

"At least I got to meet Siv there," Sveena chimed happily, "Your place is easier to get used to, I guess. I would've been confused if he put me in Tzeentch's maze or got a disease in Nurgle's swamp.... Or died in Khorne's place."

“That’s fair. Yeah, Siv’s one of my good ones, I think,” Slaanesh agreed.

”Ah. A daemonette,” The Emperor grumbled.

"She's really nice," Sveena commented.

“Daemonettes are not usually defined by their niceness,” The Emperor regarded, “I am not sure if that means it is good or not for it to be nice.”

"... Being nice can be not good?" Sveena blinked curiously.

“It can be if it’s not natural for whatever is not supposed to be nice,”

"But... Wouldn't that be even better than good because... Now they're nice when they weren't nice before?" Sveena pondered.

The Emperor shrugged, “I am not sure, entirely. I am just untrusting of the spawn of the Chaos Gods, and shall remain so.”

"I have a spawn inside me," Sveena pointed out with a smile, poking her belly and making a quiet squishing sound with her mouth.

“You let a daemonette...” The Emperor looked from Sveena’s stomach to her face in confusion and disgust.

"Well, I don't know if it was Siv that got me pregnant or Frank- He's another friend. He's not from the Warp," Sveena elaborated.

“Ah. A regular human,” the Emperor looked relieved.

"Uhh... I dunno. He's kinda like a regular human but he's taller and his skin is sorta greenish-yellowish."

“A mutant?!” the golden visage of the Emperor again looked at Sveena with a shocked expression.

"Mmmm.. Mhm!" Sveena nodded.

The Emperor pinched his brow with a deep sigh, shaking his head slowly as he mumbled, “I think it’s your turn...”

"Umm... Nurgle! Do you have any... K's?"

[b]“K’s? Go fish.”[/i]

"Okay," Sveena reached for a card from the center before asking, "Is something wrong, Emperor?"

“Mutants are... usually not to be trusted, either,” The Emperor explained, “Beasts and demented things made by the twisting powers of Chaos.”

"Frank isn't from chaos though, he's from America."

“That was one of Terra’s old countries, was it not?”

"Um... No I... I think it was Earth," Sveena scratched her head in confusion.

“Another name for Terra. Both of those words mean the same,” the Emperor explained, “Yes, I remember America. I remember taking it in the Unification Wars. Many Mutants and mongrels of similar horror were purged in their useless fight against my army.”

Sveena pursed her lips in thought. "I think you and me are from different Earths," She said.

“That would make sense,” The Emperor nodded, before looking to Nurgle, “Do you have any Q’s?” The Plaguefather gave him the queen card in his deck lethargically.

”But anyways,” the Emperor continued, “Even though our two universes’ mutants arise in different manners, they are still a repugnant race of constant savagery, no matter their skin color.”

"Frank is the first person I met when I got taken from my universe. He's one of the nicest people I ever met. He used to be a soldier," She informed.

“A soldier? Who did he fight for?” The Emperor asked.

"America," Sveena answered, "He was a part of the Enclave... He said that... They weren't really good guys. I was a part of them too, but then I got amnesia."

“Ah. You left after you forgot about them?” The Emperor asked, as Nurgle took his turn to take one of Slaanesh’s queen cards.

"Umm.. No, I think I already left them," Sveena said with a shake of her head, "And then I think I got amnesia after that. I only know what the Enclave is because Frank told me about them."

“I see. So your shared work with this Enclave brought you close together? Interesting.”

"Uh-huh. When I met him, I was still wearing the uniform I had when like... Um... My life started... Back then, all I really cared about was remembering who I was."

“And did you ever figure that out?”

"Sorta, but not really. I think it's better to focus on who I am now than who I used to be."

“That is a good philosophy to have on life,” The Emperor approved, “You cannot change what has already happened. You can only try to change what is to come.”

Sveena smied at that. "Then maybe you should give people like Siv or Frank a chance. Siv's done a lot of bad things in the past, but... She's a really good person right now."

“How so? How does a daemonette do good?”

"She's my friend," Sveena said simply, taking a brief moment to think before continuing, "She makes me happy and helps me, and I help her too... When I'm sad, she gives me a hug to help me feel better. I'm really glad to have her around."

“...That is better than almost all of them,” The Emperor agreed, “That is good.”

"... I think one reason some people do bad thinds is because they do bad things all the time. And since all they do is hurt people, nobody tries to be their friend, so they never learn how to be good," She went on, smiling at the Emperor, "It's not always easy to be friends with someone bad or someone that hates you, but it's worth it in the end."

“...You may have a point there,” the golden-plated man nodded, “I may... have misjudged some things too far. I’ll... thinkabout that. Thank you, Sveena, for letting me find this.. idea, so to say.”

"Oh, you're welcome!" Sveena beamed, not entirely sure of what she did, but glad to have helped in some way as she gave him another hug. The Emperor, more receptive to this hug than the last, was quicker to return the hug.

"Oh, by the way," Sveena said with a curious tone as she pulled back, "Is your name, like... Actually 'Emperor'?"

“Er.. no,” The Emperor shook his head, “But I’d rather not talk about my past much, including my name.”

"Oh, okay," Sveena nodded respectfully, "... Sometimes I wonder what my old name was. I like 'Sveena' though."

“It’s a pretty name for a pretty gal,” Slaanesh winked over the table to Sveena.

"What does that mean?" Sveena blinked, though smiling under the correct assumption she was being complimented.

“I mean that even if you don’t work hard for it, no matter what, your looks are always ravishingly gorgeous!” Slaanesh explained with a sly grin.

"Oh... Oh! Thank you!" Sveena exclaimed with a blush and another giggle.

“...All this talk about your looks have got me flustered,” Slaanesh blushed, “Maybe later, you and me could... get me not so flustered, if you catch my drift.”

"... You can catch a drift?" Sveena asked with surprise.

No that’s- I meant that we should, er, how do I put this with him in the room,” Slaanesh thought aloud.

A quick moment to think and rule out whatever Slaanesh of all people could be referring to led Sveena to exclaim, "Oh! Do you mean do sex?"

”...Yes, Sveena, I meant to have sex,” Slaanesh sighed.

The Emperor, having caught on to the implied fornication a while back, let out a long sigh into his hands.

"What's wrong?" Sveena asked, turning her attention towards him.

“The perverted nature of your friend, mostly,” the Emperor grumbled.

"What do you mean?"

“Sveena, I literally just asked if you want to fuck. That is extremely perverted and wrong, to Mister Goldy there.”

"... I don't get it."

[color:5019=A52238]“Neither do I, Sveena. Neither do I.”

“...But seriously though, you wanna go in the bathroom later and just go at it?”

"Maybe later. I wanna take care of the Skaven and get the Champions before I do any stuff like that."

“...You need a break, Sveena. I will go deal with the Skaven or whatever because you are going to work yourself to death if you keep this up.”

"I can't not do stuff when the Warp is in trouble," Sveena insisted, "And you gotta stay here to help make sure your guys and anyone else's guys don't start fighting. They'll listen to you better than they would me."

“...I wanna do stuff too, y’know,” Slaanesh slumped back in her chair, “I know keeping everyone not fighting is important, but I just feel like I’m doing nothing here.”

Sveena gave her fellow god a worried look. She empathized with Slaanesh's woes, but it wasn't just the fact that the Prince of Pleasure was needed on the island that made Sveena reluctant to bestow the Skaven problem upon her. She was also unsure if Slaanesh was up to the task. She had plenty of faith in the god, but given her recent suggestion of tossing the Emperor at Nagash...

"... Okay," Sveena sighed, "But... Just remember that you can't fight anyone there, you can't say anything mean or have a mean look or anything, even when you really want to."

Slaanesh beamed at the sudden choice, letting out a little squeal of happiness before calming herself. “...I won’t let you down, hon! I’ll do everything the way you want, however you want!”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” The Emperor contested, “Slaanesh is not known for her reason and patience on such things.”

"Mmmf... Remember, Slaanesh, you need to like... Think why the Skaven are doing what they're doing and... Try to convince them that they can get what they want still... By doing something that isn't what they're doing right now... Which is bringing Khorne back to life."

”Oh-ho-ho, don’t you worry, Sveena. I’ll have this in the bag for sure!”

"Oh, I hope so," Sveena murmured through her nervous smile. It was hard enough for even her to stay patient at times, or to resist fighting back... "U-Um... So... Say one of the Skaven try to kill you. They run up and they're biting you... What do you do?"

“I just, uhh... teleport away! Or teleport them away, either way!”

"It'd be better for just you to teleport, but good, good," Sveena nodded to herself as she ran her hands over one another under the table. She was not entirely convinced in Slaanesh's success, but she could only hope for the best.

“Alright, good, good! What else?” Slaanesh asked, extremely anxious to do something more than just laze about and tell her daemons to not clash.

"Just... Um... If you're ever worried you might... Get mad or something.. Umm... Think what I would do if I was there," Sveena suggested. She was not used to dishing out advice on peace missions.

“Hmm.. alright!” Slaanesh nodded ecstatically, as she teleported over to Sveena’s side of the table to give her a hug, “You’re the absolute best, Sveena!”

"Good luck, I love you!" Sveena returned the hug, her nerves eased only by how happy her friend was/

”I love you too!” Slaanesh exclaimed, giving Sveena a prolonged smooch right on the lips, before teleporting away.

"... Oooohhhhh geez," Sveena squeaked out with worry.

“You are still afraid for her to fail,” the Emperor stated.

"It's... It's just not... The kind of thing she does... It'll be the first time she tries doing... Peace stuff," Sveena explained.

“You must give her a chance, then,” The Emperor suggested, “Everything must have a first time. This may be an important first for her, but you must still be confident in your... friends.”

"... You're right, you're right," Sveena sighed and relaxed in her seat a little, "She'll do the best she can, I'm sure of it."

“I am as well,” the Emperor agreed, “...I assume our game has ended.”

"I guess, yeah... It was fun," Sveena looked to her cards before setting them on the table, "Maybe she's right. Maybe I should take a short break."

”Have you been working that hard lately?” The Emperor asked.

"Well... Before I found you I was getting someone else to help us... Part of that was finding their reincarnated boyfriend, but he was stuck helping build robots to fight a war, so then I had to... Like... Make people not able to die... Then the war ended so he was able to come and help and... It was a lot of stuff," Sveena sighed.

“...That is extremely worthy of a break, in my opinion,” The Emperor agreed, “Not only for yourself. To see your face, the face of the person behind everything, will motivate your fellow gods and their followers to continue fighting against Nagash as well.”

“Excellent, then,” the Emperor stood up from his place at the table, “I must go. If I am to try and bring back my allies, I must first reform my material body. And to do that, I must go off to find whatever shards of my being are still lying out there in the Warp. I will return, but I will need time to do as I have said I will do.”

"Okay, please be safe," Sveena said as she stood up with him.

“I will try so,” the Emperor chuckled, “And to you, the same.”

After one more quick hug, Sveena vanished in a flash of green light to take her break. The Emperor, too, disappeared in his own golden light to undertake his own mission, leaving the god of stagnation on his own, having fallen asleep a long while ago.

After a few moments, there was a flash of green as a blanket was gently laid onto Nurgle before Sveena once again poofed away.